Living
by RedVoid
Summary: He had to choose between his perfect 'Bizarre Dolls' and not allowing the cross-dressing girl - one of the few people he met that suffered far too much from pain and lost but didn't hold it against the world - to become a chess piece to the game of the great, dark nobles. Well, at least he let her with the least twisted player.
1. A special day

**Hello! RedVoid here with the prologue of a brand new story! ;)**

**This fanfic will be OC-centric. But I don't really have any pairings in mind; the only ones I beleve will appear, eventually, are Ciel/Elizabeth and one-sided Grell/any other male (mostly Sebastian though).**

**Disclaimer (valid for all the chapters): I don't own Kuroshitsuji nor its characters. I only own the plot and OCs.**

**Warning: English is my second language, so let me know if you find any mistakes that I'll fix them right away.**

**Hope you like the prologue! =)**

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><p>Today, July 5th, is a very special day… a very special day indeed. No, it's not my birthday… actually nothing important to me happened in this date. At least, not yet.<p>

But, where are my manners? Introductions should always come first, so, since I don't believe I'll be hearing much from you, let me begin: my name is Eliza Davis and I think I'm 20 years old. Why I'm not sure about my age? You lose track of time after years trapped in a scientific facility on the underground of a castle to be used as a guinea pig.

And that brings me back to why today is a special day: I'll be escaping this place.

Sorry about cutting short my introduction, but we'll have plenty of time to talk later, if you stick around; if you don't… well, one more crazy person talking to herself won't make a difference in this world, right?

First, let me give you a description of the castle's plant… actually, of how I believe this place's plant is, after all they don't come up and show a map of the place to their prisoners. But, after being here for as long as I remember, I was able to build a mental map of the place myself; it took me some good 10 years (what can I say? I've never been the brightest bulb in the box), but I did it and I will explain it to you right now.

Let's start with the third basement floor and also the lowest one; aka the prison. This floor is built out of stone and is quite big so it can fit many cells; their sizes range a lot, so some of them are full of prisoners while others are occupied just by two or three. The cells were built side by side and all of them have an iron door facing a narrow hallway that can hardly fit three people at once. On each extremity of the hallway there is another iron door, one opens the way to a huge empty room where they… you know what? I think it'll be better if I talk about this room later. Now, the other door opens the way to a huge old stone stairwell that leads to the second basement floor. Got the picture in your mind? Now imagine it at least three times dirtier.

Did you dirt up the place as I told you to? Good. Now clean it up, because the next rooms are in the summit of cleanliness; they are part of the scientific area.

The scientific area isn't just a huge lab as you're probably thinking; before the lab, there's a white corridor of a medium length with others iron doors that lead to other cells. But the cells of the scientific area are far better than the ones in the prison; they're cleaner, more comfortable (or should I say less uncomfortable?) and private. Needless to say, these cells are occupied by the most important and comported experiments here. Now, after the corridor, there's the huge lab that you imagined.

Some of you must've imagined a dark place, full of open bodies over dissection tables and many scientists working as slaves for a crazy and sadistic one; others, on the other hand, must've imagined a well-illuminated and organized room with scientists dressed all in white working cooperatively. Sorry sinister labs lovers, the other ones were right.

The lab is extremely clean and impeccably organized, and the only open bodies are the ones in the surgery room, localized on the right extremity of the lab. Also, the scientists aren't enslaved and there is no sadistic mad-scientist; believe it or not, they don't take pleasure in our pain, though I must admit that they don't put effort in keeping it away from us either.

Why the lab and the scientists aren't cruel when their guinea-pigs are imprisoned human beings? Simple, the only guinea-pigs who enter the lab are the ones who occupy the scientific area's cells, in other words, the important ones, so the scientists need to provide relatively good living conditions to them.

But I'm losing focus here; before talking about the people that inhabit this place I must finish describing the castle; don't worry, I'm pretty much done with.

So, on the lab's center, there is a spiral stair case that leads to the first basement floor; I've never been up there so I won't be able to tell you how it is, but I've been told by someone that the stairs take you to the castle's wine cellar.

I think I'm done with descriptions. Are you still there? I hope I didn't bore you too much... Well, now I think I should tell a bit more about myself as I've promised, right?

You already know my name and age, so let's jump to my background here in the castle.

The first thing I remember was waking up in one of the dungeons' cells, surrounded by people that I didn't know; some of them were very old while others were only children. I think I was ten years old at the time.

Now, what does a ten-year old do when she wakes up in a dirty cell surrounded by people she doesn't know? She cries, and that's exactly what I did… well, I didn't exactly cry; I had a fit. I thrashed, screamed and cried, demanding to know where I was. Some of the older prisoners tried to calm me, but that only made me scream and cry harder.

I don't know how long it took me to get out of that panicked state; I think it was quite a while because most of the other prisoners weren't even paying attention to me anymore.

After I stopped screaming, a woman approached me; she was sickly thin, her blonde hair looked like a bird's nest and her face was almost as white as a paper sheet. The woman was Emma Clarke.

But what really caught my attention was that, even in her deplorable state, she smiled in a way that only a mother could… you know what I'm talking about, right? That kind smile that makes you feel safe, happy and calm. That smile that assured you that everything would be okay. That loving smile that shows that there's someone who truly cares about you.

I'll never forget that smile… I still try to imitate it, but it never seems to be as good as hers.

Sorry, I lost focus again. Now, as I was saying, Emma approached me, sitting right in front of me with that motherly smile on her face; I stared at her with my teary eyes for some minutes, wary of her presence. But soon my wariness gave place to that despair that I had felt when I woke up and I started to cry again; but this time Emma was there to hug me. I cried in her arms until I fell asleep.

When I woke up, I was laying my head on Emma's lap while she softly caressed my head; noticing I was awake, she smiled at me just like my mom used to.

Talking about my mom, you must be wondering what happened to my family, right? Well, long story short, my mom and dad died in a robbery when I was three years old and I've lived with my uncle since then.

Now, I believe some of you are imagining a nice and caring man while others are picturing a pedophile monster. This time no one is right. He wasn't the loving type, but he didn't mistreat me either. My uncle provided me shelter, food, water, clean clothes and education (well, he just taught me how to read, but this is quite a lot since I was just a middle-class girl), but he didn't particularly care for me. I think he felt obligated to take care of me… even so, I must thank him, because most of people wouldn't even bother to do that for a three years old girl with a small inheritance.

What? How did I get here, you ask? Not even I can answer this question precisely; one day I was taking a walk around my neighborhood and the next thing I know I'm waking up inside the dungeons' prison.

Now, back to my story here in the castle.

Emma ended up taking the role of my mother, something that I'm quite grateful for. She made sure to teach me what to do and what not to do, also she explained me how the system worked here.

All of the guinea-pigs start by the dungeon's prison, where they are pre-experimented (I think I just made up a word), getting weekly injections of… something. You see, the injections make the guinea-pigs stronger and they have to test how strong they got, so, after some months, they start being sent by the pairs to that room I talked about earlier. That room is huge, dirty, smelly and empty; it is kind of a training room, where the pair fights until they are stopped with a tranquilizer. Before each fighting session, the guinea-pigs are given an injection of... well, another thing, that makes them lose control of their actions and fight with all they got. Needless to say some of the guinea-pigs end u-

…

Sorry, but I just noticed I'm calling people who were imprisoned and being forced to be test subjects as guinea-pigs... That's not good, especially since I was one of them so I know what they're going through. Let me rewrite that last sentence, at the very least.

Needless to say some of the **people**end up dying in that room.

But that's not a problem to the scientists, since they don't care much for the people in the dungeon. You see, the prisoners usually die after two or three years, only the ones who survive more than that are the true target of the scientists' interest. You must've deduced already that the ones that live more than that are moved to the scientific area's cells. In these cells, the people are better fed, kept clean and allowed to some sort of entertainment (like books or one-player games), not to mention that they go to the lab at least once a day to do a check-up. Why so much difference? That's simple: the scientists are trying to make the people forget what has been done to them so they'll be easier to manipulate if they succeed on the experiment; at least, that's what I've been told.

Who told me that? Be patient, I'll tell you soon enough.

Now, back to my time in the dungeons.

As I was saying, Emma kind of adopted me so my time there wasn't all bad. Sure, the cell was dirty and we were fed poorly, but I gained something I had lost and thought that would never get back: a mom. Believe me or not, but having Emma around compensated the time I've wasted in there.

My first year there was uneventful. Most of my time was spent hearing stories from Emma; she'd tell me all the little tales and long romances she had read during her life. I think it's because of theses stories that I love reading so much.

After one year in the dungeons, I was in the same state of Emma when we met, but I didn't mind, it wasn't like I had a reason to care for my appearance. Even though I was in a semi-permanent dirty, hungry and hurt state, I was contempt as long as I had Emma by my side.

Then it all ended.

Emma started to get weaker as the days passed; her hair had fallen and she'd cough blood and throw up for no reason. But she kept telling me stories every now and then with a motherly smile on her face. One day, one miserable day, a motherfucking, filthy and cruel scientist decided she should fight someone to see her progress; no matter how loud I cried and begged, they took her there. Needless to say, Emma died in that fight.

With Emma gone, my only source of happiness in that hole disappeared. The days started to pass me by as a blur; I didn't care if I lived or died anymore, but my body endured everything they did to me. Soon, three years had passed and I was alive and, relatively, healthy. That got the scientists' attention and I was moved to the scientific area.

Before taking me to my new cell, the scientists washed me and did some tests… actually, they did A LOT of tests, but that was to be expected. After the tests, I was taken to my new "room", the cell number 7.

In there, was a meal waiting for me; I stared at it in disbelief for some milliseconds, then I ate it so quickly and desperately that I'm sure I looked like an animal. After I finished licking even the salt off the plate, I started crying. Why, I still don't know for sure, but I cried very hard, just like I did when I woke in the dungeons; but this time there was no Emma to hold me.

My crying was ceased by a boy's voice coming from the room besides mine.

"Stop bawling like a fucking baby, will ya? It's annoying the shit outta me." The boy demanded from me.

Quickly, I crawled to the wall and pressed my ear on it. "Is someone there?" I asked with a low voice.

"No, it's your fucking conscience! Of course someone's here!" The boy shot back. "Ya're a newbie, right? What's your name? Mine is Darrel Basset."

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><p>Believe me or not, I liked that boy immediately; he was simple, straightforward and talkative. We never met face-to-face, but every night we'd talk about any and everything; we shared our stories and he told me his dreams for the future. When he asked about my dreams, I said I had none.<p>

"What ya mean ya don't have dreams? Ya can't live without dreams… we have to think something up to ya pursue."

After that, he'd tell a different dream for me to have every night but we never settled on something. I was contempt again; I had someone who I held dear to me.

* * *

><p>Soon I started following a routine: shower, breakfast (all the meals were eaten in the room), lab, lunch, every other day a fight, read a book (provided by the scientists), dinner, talk to Darrel and sleep. My everyday life was pretty much like that until a couple of months ago.<p>

Darrel had been disrespectful towards one of the scientists during his tests and was sent to the dungeons for one month as a punishment. I was already conformed to the idea of spending a month in silence, but it didn't happen.

On the first night Darrel was away, a man clad in black showed up; he was tall, his rich black hair was slicked back and his eyes were of a frightening red, also he had a very strong and imposing presence. He was the most intimidating and yet beautiful person I've ever met. I was laying on my bed when he opened my cell's door, so I sat up immediately.

"You are Miss Eliza Davis, am I correct?" He asked with an easy-going smile on his face.

I nodded in silence.

Widening his smile, the man raised his right hand; in it was a book titled 'Pamela' by Samuel Richardson.

"I've brought this for you." The man purred as he walked towards my bed. "I read it as I walked down the corridor; it's quite an interesting story. I think you'll like it, Miss Davis." How he read a 600 pages book during a short walk I'll never know.

He sat down on my bed and offered me the book; my hand was trembling as I took it from him.

"T-Thanks." I said nervously.

"No need to be nervous around me, Miss Davis." He spoke softly. "I'm nothing more than a mere butler."

"What is a butler doing here?" I couldn't help but question.

"Oh, my lord is involved with the research that is being developed here so I must accompany him to ensure his safety and comfort. But right now he is in a private meeting, so I was allowed some time to myself."

"And you decided to spend your free time delivering a book to one of the test subjects." I sated skeptically. "Why would you do that?"

"My lord and I are very interested in you, Miss Davis; you are the only truly successful experiment so far." He smiled sinisterly, making me shrink in fear. "We expect great things of you and I am sure you will not disappoint us, am I correct?"

I nodded in fear. Satisfied, the man's sinister smile gave place to a soft one and he laid his gloved hand on my cheek. "I knew you would agree, Miss Davis."

With his other hand, the butler took a watch from his pocket and checked the time, not removing his hand from my cheek.

"Look at the time. Unfortunately, I must go now, Miss Davis." The butler purred as he stood up. "I hope you enjoy the book."

The man was almost leaving the room when I asked for him to wait a little; he turned around with an inquiringly expression. I took a book form under my pillow and walked towards him.

"I must return the books when I finish reading them." I stated as I handed him the book. "Also, what's your name?"

The butler kneeled down and took my hand in his, making me blush like mad.

"I am Boris Kent, the butler of the Chamberlin family." He purred and kissed my hand. "At your services, Miss Davis."

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><p>After he left, I thought I'd never see him again, but I was sadly mistaken; he showed up all of the nights that Darrel spent in the dungeons, sometimes he'd spend just a few minutes while others he stayed with me for more than three hours.<p>

On the first nights his presence made me feel uncomfortable; he was too perfect. But I got accustomed to him and started to enjoy our talks about books, life and, some times, the research they were doing. He never told me much about it, though; only that their objective was to create a demoniac human with amazing abilities. Hard to swallow, don't you think so?

By the way, he was the one who told me that the stairs in the lab lead to the castle's wine cellar, but you must've deduced this already.

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><p>On the 23rd night Darrel was away, Kent showed up with another man. This man had long platinum blonde hair that was tied in a low ponytail and forest green eyes; he was almost as beautiful as Kent.<p>

"Eliza Davis, it's such a pleasure to meet you." The blonde spoke cheerily as he walked towards me with arms wide open. "I am the marquis Cyril Chamberlin."

What he did next surprised me to no end: he embraced me as if I was his old friend. I froze in shock and discomfort, not returning nor refusing his embrace. He didn't seem to even notice my discomfort though, because he didn't let go of me for some good 30 seconds.

"Boris has told me many good things about you." I was (and still am) very curious to what those things were, but I didn't dare to utter a word.

"Boris." Chamberlin said looking over his shoulder. "Would you be so kind to leave me and Eliza alone so we can chat?"

Kent bowed deeply. "Your wish is an order, milord." In a blink of an eye he was gone.

"Now, why don't we talk a little?" Chamberlin purred as he walked towards my bed and sat down. "You must be curious to why I'm here, right?"

I nodded nervously; this guy's presence was even scarier than Kent's. He noticed how I was feeling and chuckled.

"No need to be nervous, Eliza, I don't bite… hard." He said with a malicious smirk on his face that made me take a step back and, I shamefully admit, blush. Soon his smirk turned to a childish smile and he patted the mattress. "Now, don't just stand there staring at me, sit, sit."

I obliged and sat down on my bed as far away from him as possible… by the way, I can swear I heard him sigh in relief because of that! Obviously, I didn't say anything about it but that small action made it clear that he didn't really like me. Or maybe he was just too disgusted by me; I was just a lab rat after all...

Whatever it was, it showed to me that his smiles were fake, so I decided not to let myself believe his words easily.

"So…" He began cheerily. "How would you like getting out of here?"

I didn't believe his question at first; I thought he was making some sort of sick joke with me; showing a steak to a starving dog, but not allowing the animal to eat it. But Chamberlin was dead-serious. He said that I just had to wait for the right day to break free: the day he and his butler would destroy everything and everyone in the place.

Why he wants to do that when he was the one who involved himself with all of this? Don't know; he refused to tell me.

As I'd said before, I didn't trust him (I still don't) so I declined his offer… until he mentioned Darrel.

"Darrel isn't a total success like you, but he has survived so far, so I believe he isn't completely useless… you both could escape together! Don't you think Darrel would like to get away from here?"

He was right; Darrel would give anything to get away from this place. He had dreams and this was his only chance to pursue them.

Needless to say, I accepted Chamberlin's offer.

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><p>I talked to Darrel about everything that happened when he came back from the dungeons.<p>

"That's so fucking awesome, Elli!" He exclaimed cheerfully. "They told ya when they gonna cause the racket?"

"No." I answered. "But don't get too excited, Darrel; I don't think we should trust them."

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><p>The days passed by uneventfully. After that night, I didn't see Chamberlin anymore (thank God, by the way), but Kent would still show up to talk to me when Darrel was in the labs or fighting.<p>

"Why do you keep visiting me? Marquis Chamberlin doesn't mind you being here?" I asked the butler some day.

He stared at me for a few seconds before answering. "Milord has better things to worry himself about than a mere butler." He said smiling. "And I happen to enjoy our talks about life and, specially, about literature; it is quite hard to find someone who likes to read as much as I do."

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><p>Yesterday, when Darrel was in the lab, Kent showed up again.<p>

"Good afternoon, Miss Davis." He said with a charming smiled. "I have come to brief you about tomorrow's event."

"Milord will set you and Mr. Basset free around midnight, when the number of scientists and guards is reduced. After you are free, you must lock milord in one of the cells so it seems that you got away on your own. But…" He looked down at me with the most intimidating and cruel eyes I've ever seen. "You shall not touch a single hair of his head unless he gives you permission to do so. If you do that, I promise that you'll experience the most terrible kind of death that exists; is that understood, Miss Davis?"

"O-Of course." I answered promptly. "I wouldn't dream of hurting Marquis Chamberlin."

"I'm sure you wouldn't, but better safe than sorry, am I correct?" He said with a fresh smile. "Now, let me continue. After you both are free, you shall go to the lab, where I will be waiting so we may proceed to kill the scientists."

"Wait!" I exclaimed with wide eyes. "Darrel and I'll have to kill them too?"

"Why, yes, of course. That will be the final test to see if you are of use to milord." He said nonchalantly. "It won't be a problem for you, will it Miss Davis? After all, you have killed many people in the fights to test your developing, am I correct?"

Ashamed, I nodded my head in agreement.

"Moving on; after we finished killing the scientists, I will leave you and Mr. Basset at your own to run away. There are very few guards in the mansion, so I believe you both are more than capable of taking care of them… and by that I mean killing them."

"I know what you meant." I said annoyed. "I'm not THAT dumb, you know?"

Kent's eyes widened for a millisecond and he kneeled before me. "I am sorry, Miss Davis. I didn't mean to offend your intelligence."

Quickly I pulled him up. "Don't kneel like that to me, it's weird."

"As you wish, Miss Davis." He said with a smile. "Now, after leaving the mansion, you and Mr. Basset must follow a road to a small village. There is an inn there called 'The Foresters Arms'; you must check in there and get the room 104. Milord and I will meet with you there after a few days."

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><p>Now, here I am, waiting for Chamberlin to show up so Darrel and I can get away.<p>

"Hey, Elli." Came Darrel's voice. "Ya okay there?"

"Yeah, just a little anxious… you?"

"The same."

After that we both kept silent; no words needed to be said right now. We just had to wait a few more minutes, until it was our time to act.

Today is a very special day… a very special day indeed.


	2. Escape and change of plans

Hello there, it's nice to talk to you again.

I must admit that today, July 6th, isn't a really good day to me. Why? That's simple: Darrel told me that he's going to leave England and go to America to start a new life there. What's so great about that place anyway? I'm sure that there's nothing there that doesn't exist here.

But, I don't think that's what you want to know right now… you must be wondering what happened in our escape from the castle, right? Let me tell you then.

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><p>My cell was the first one to be opened by Chamberlin; the marquis looked as happy as before, but (fortunately) he kept his distance from me this time. I simply walked out of the room and waited for him to open Darrel's cell.<p>

I won't lie to you, I was shaking a little in anticipation; after seven years just talking through the wall, I was finally going to find out what Darrel looked like. I had asked one of the scientists before, but he told me he couldn't say.

As Darrel walked out of his cell ( he had a loaf of bread in his right hand and an apple in his left), I felt my jaw drop. I must admit, it wasn't the image I had in my head. The Darrel I imagined was like Kent or Chamberlin: tall, well-built and handsome. Given, Darrel is quite cute. The thing is: I was expecting someone more… well, bulky.

Darrel looked me up and down and smirked at me.

"Ya're taller than I thought." He said before taking a bite of the fruit.

Indeed, he is an inch or two shorter than me, but what really caught my attention was his built. Darrel is extremely thin and by that I mean: HE LOOKS LIKE A SKELETON! Not even Emma was that thin in her worst days.

I couldn't help but stare at Darrel with my mouth opened in shock for a few seconds before incarnating Chamberlin and embracing him. It took the blonde some seconds to return the action.

"It's nice to see ya too, Elli." He spoke between chuckles.

"This is so cute." Chamberlin spoke in a sing-song voice. "But we should be doing something else right now, so why don't you leave the greetings for later?"

I know, trust Chamberlin to ruin a good moment. Nonetheless, Darrel and I let go of each other.

"Thank you." Chamberlin said with a charming smile as he walked into my cell. Once he was inside he threw me the key. "Now, lock it up and go to the laboratory."

"Yes, Marquis Chamberlin." I said, not being able to suppress the annoyance in my voice. Thankfully, he chose to ignore it; I can only imagine what Kent would do to me if he found out I disrespected Chamberlin.

Darrel had finished eating his apple as I locked the door and was now muching on his bread.

"How come you're eating right now?" I couldn't help but ask as we started to walk towards the lab's entrance.

Darrel threw a big grin to me. "If I don't eat I lose weight." The brunette spoke with a mouth full of bread. "And that's something I can't lose."

"That's true." I quickly agreed.

* * *

><p>As soon as Darrel and I entered the lab, the scientists panicked.<p>

"Code 109!" One of them screamed. "Code 109! Quick, let-" But the scientist was interrupted by Darrel's left hand going through his stomach.

"Shut up." Darrel spoke annoyed, taking another bite of his bread.

Kent was on one of the corners with a suitcase on his hand. The butler looked at me then at the scientist's corpse in a silent message; it was my turn to show what I was capable of, and so I did. From the 13 scientists who were there that night, Darrel killed 4 and I killed 8.

I was about to kill the last scientist, who was right in front of me, sitting on the ground in fetal position and trembling like a leaf, when Kent grabbed me by the neck and threw me to the other side of the room, much to my surprise.

Standing a few feet behind the butler was Darrel, who seemed to be as shocked as me with Kent's reaction.

"I won't allow you to take anymore lives, monsters!" The butler screamed dramatically, and then he turned to the young scientist and helped him up. "Are you alright, sir?"

"Y-Yes." The scientist answered shakily.

But, as soon as the scientist turned his back to Kent in order to glare at me, the butler hit him on the neck, knocking him out.

"Bipolar much, Kent?" I couldn't help but ask; my answer was a charming (and annoying) smirk.

"What the fuck was that?" Darrel demanded angrily as he stomped towards the butler. "Why did you push Elli like that?" I must admit that I wasn't happy either, but, being the ridiculously resigned person I am, I settled for glaring at Kent.

"I apologize." Kent said quietly as he picked up the fainted scientist. "But milord and I need at least one of the scientists alive to serve as a witness to our innocence in this 'incident'." Kent turned his gaze to Darrel. "That's why I pushed Miss Davis out of the way and said those things. When this man wakes up he'll think that you, Mr. Basset, were able to defeat me and knock him out."

At hearing Kent's explanation, Darrel scoffed and rolled his eyes, but also dropped his glare.

"That's something ya could've mentioned before, ya know." Turning his back to the butler, Darrel walked towards one of the corpses and pointed to the man's wrists, around which was a gold watch. "Ya don't mind if I take the watch, do ya?"

"You may take whatever you wish, Mr. Basset. Also, I brought some clothes for you two; they are in the suitcase that is lying on the room's right corner." Kent spoke with a polite smile on his face. "Now, if you excuse me, I have my own matters to take care of, down stairs."

Carrying the scientist over his shoulder, Kent walked towards the door. Before going through it, though, he turned to me with yet another smile on his face. Honestly, who is that guy trying to please? I liked him better when we just talked about books and he kept a normal expression on his face.

"I hope to see you in a few days, Miss Davis." Kent said charmingly.

Before I opened my mouth to give him a reply, the butler was already out of the lab. Sighing, I turned to Darrel; the blonde had the dead man's watch on his wrist and was admiring it with a satisfied smile on his face.

"Nice." I heard him say, most likely to himself. I couldn't help but giggle, getting his attention.

"What?" Darrel asked/demanded, raising his eyebrows inquiringly.

"Nothing." I answered. "It's just that… you look like a child receiving its very first birthday present. You look very cute."

"I know I'm an eye-candy, Elli; no need to tell me." The blonde said smirking. But, surprisingly, his smirk turned into a very serious expression. "Now, Elli, let's raid these guys' pockets and get whatever they have that looks valuable; aka, money and jewelry."

"Why?" I asked confusedly, but started searching the scientists' pockets nonetheless.

"Just trust me, okay? I'll explain everything to ya later. Now let's finish this, change our clothes and get outta here as fast as possible. I'm starving."

* * *

><p>We were able to leave the castle very quickly; as Kent had said, there were very few guards on the surface. Darrel was carrying all of our 'profit' with the help of the suitcase Kent had used to bring our clothes. The clothes were very simple; Darrel got black pants and a white shirt while I got a black dress.<p>

"Man, he could've gotten me a shirt and pants too." I complained as we left the castle behind us.

"Don't be ridiculous, Elli." Darrel patronized. "A woman wearing pants is strange; it'd get us too much att-"

BOOM!

Darrel's little speech was interrupted by the castle exploding. We turned our wide eyes to the burning construction; the dark night sky made the flames look extremely bright and beautiful.

"Wow." Darrel whispered, just as entranced by the dancing flames as I was.

* * *

><p>On our way to the village, I couldn't help but gaze with curiosity and wonder at everything around me; the trees, the stars, the flowers… even the wind seemed to amaze me. Darrel, on the other hand, only paid attention to the trees and bushes, and that was only because he wanted some fruits to eat.<p>

"I can't believe that, after twelve years in that place, the only thing you think about is food, Darrel." I said outraged. "And you've eaten less than an hour ago."

"Ya don't understand, Elli." Darrel groaned. "I NEED to eat constantly. Thanks to those fucking injections they gave me, my body isn't able to produce energy enough to keep me alive if I eat what a normal person does. That's the main reason why I wasn't a complete success in the experiments."

"Oh." Needles to say, after hearing that I felt like an idiot for complaining. "I'll help you look for some kind of food, then."

Darrel forced a smile. "Thanks, Elli. Appreciate it."

Soon we found a plum tree and stopped for Darrel to eat some of them; and by 'some', I mean all the fruits that were on the tree, mature or not.

"So…" I began. "Are you going to tell me why we took those people's money and jewelry?"

"Okay, okay." Darrel agreed with his mouth full, not that I minded it. "Ya know, Elli, my extremely big need for food isn't the only thing that shouldn't have happened to me with those experiments. My hearing was also very developed; to the point I was able to hear anything that anyone said in that fucking lab when I was there."

I felt my eyes widen at hearing that, but kept my shock to myself and allowed him to continue.

Taking a bite of one of the plums, Darrel resumed talking. "Because of that I know quite a lot about the Lucifer Project, as they call it. That fucking butler told a little about it to ya, right?"

I nodded my head. "Yes, but I didn't really believe him. I mean, trying to create demoniac humans? That's hard to swallow."

"Well, it's the truth. And that butler is the origin of this project." Throwing the fruit's lump away, Darrel turned to me dead-serious. "That fucking butler's a demon, Elli."

First, I thought it was a joke. Come on, a demon? You understand me, right? But Darrel's serious expression told me that he was saying the truth. Second on my list: shock. Trust me, finding out about demons' existence and accepting it isn't something easy to do. Finally, after assimilating this new fact, came the terror; I had spent time alone with a demon for God's sake! Who knows what he could've done to me?

I must've been hyperventilating or something, because Darrel quickly took a hold of my face and stared right into my eyes.

"Calm down, Elli." He said firmly. "No need for ya to be scared; he's not anywhere near us. And we'll keep it that way."

"Why? Better yet; how? I mean, we are suppose to meet him and Chamberlin in a few days." Darrel just smirked at me, making me understand his plans. "We're going to ditch them? That's crazy!"

What can I say? I understood his plan, but didn't agree with it... at first. I mean, ditch a demon? AND survive it? That's a task far too hard and dangerous. But, of course, Darrel had a plan and a surprisingly good reason to propose something as crazy as that.

"As to why…" Darrel said, getting on his feet with many plums on his arms and resuming to walk down the road. "This week, during on of my fucked-up times in the lab, the butler and nancy-boy were talking quietly on one of the corners of the room and staring directly at me. Obviously, I pretended I didn't notice it; but I was paying extra attention to everything they were saying."

Grabbing the suitcase I followed the blonde. "What were they talking about?"

"Nancy-boy said that the best way to convince you to go through with the escape was letting me out too. The fucking butler said that it wouldn't be a problem. He said, and I quote: I can easily eliminate the nuisance and make a perfect tool for your plans out of Ms. Davis; she'll be totally under your control, milord."

Needless to say, that pissed me off to no end. Chamberlin had planned to kill Darrel! Using me as a tool didn't bother me much; I was used to that already. But to kill Darrel! He had dreams for God's sake!

Noticing my enraged expression, Darrel said in a mocking voice. "Relax, Elli. It's not like ya're capable to hold a grudge anyway."

"I am!" I complained glaring down at him.

Honestly? I'm not, but that makes me look naïve and, contrary to most of the books I read, things don't work out just because you're pure and innocent (something I'm not since I've already killed many people). One thing I'd learned in that castle is that the smart and selfish people are the ones who truly succeed.

"Whatever ya say, Elli." Darrel said grabbing one of the plums he was carrying. "Now, can I tell ya my plan?"

I took the fruit away from his hand and angrily took a bite. "Yes."

He rolled his eyes at my antics and grabbed another plum. "Ya know the village nancy-boy talked about? We'll pass straight through it and rest for a day in the next one we see."

"That's why we raided the scientists' pockets… This way we can afford a room somewhere." I said mostly to myself.

"Yeah." Darrel confirmed, taking a bite of his own plum. He resumed talking with his mouth full, but, as I said before, it didn't bother me (like him, I was chewing my fruit with my mouth open). "Once we're settled in an inn, we gonna change our apper-, appearn-, the way we look like."

"That's actually a good plan, Darrel." I complimented him.

"Of course it is." He said smugly. "By the way, I got a copy of our files back in the lab so we can base our make-over on them."

I must admit, Darrel surprised me a lot with his thinking. I never imagined him as the smart type due to his attitude and dislike towards books. What can I say? Don't judge a book by its cover.

"Where are we going to after we change our appearances?"

"To America!" He answered cheerfully. "We gonna start a new life, right? What better place to do it than the once called New World?"

"You mean we'll leave England?" I asked indignantly. "No way! I don't want to leave my country!"

* * *

><p>And, with that, we began screaming at each other, arguing over what we'd do. We argued for a good two hours of our walking before falling into a very uncomfortable silence, which was kept until we got to the next village a few hours later. Needless to say, it wasn't a pleasant walk.<p>

The sun was starting to rise by the time we reached the village's inn. It was simple and somewhat dirty, but, after spending years in that dungeon, it wasn't a problem for me. Darrel got some money and paid the place's owner for a room.

"Second floor, third door to the right." The owner said mechanically.

The room was small and its furniture consisted of one bed and a chest of drawers; granted, it was cleaner than I thought it would be. Darrel got some money out of the bag, and turned to the door.

"I gonna buy something to eat." He said dryly. "Be right back."

"I'm sorry, Darrel." I said before he exited the room. "I shouldn't have exalted myself like that."

Darrel sighed. "Doncha worry, Elli." He said, tiredly smiling up at me. "We both were just tired."

"I guess." I agreed and, before he could blink, gave him a quick hug. Man, had Chamberlin's essence entered me or what?

"Hehehe, I told ya; ya don't know how to hold a grudge, Elli." Darrel said amusedly, returning the hug. "While I'm gone, take a look at our files so ya can tell me what it says; ya know how much I fucking hate reading."

"Will do." I agreed smiling down at him.

"It may take a while for me to find some kind of market open at this hour." Darrel said frowning. "No need to stay up."

* * *

><p>Now here I am, laying on the bed and staring at the ceiling.<p>

I don't think Darrel will change his mind; after all it's his dream to live in the country and have a big family. And what better place to get some lands it than in America? I remember seeing many pamphlets encouraging people to go there when I was a child. But still… I don't want to leave England.

I know what you're thinking: why would I want to stay here so bad? I spent most of my life locked in that damn place, so it's not like I'll be losing much if I go to America, right? Well… I guess you're right, but I still don't imagine me living somewhere else.

...

Well, better don't think about it now…

Guess I will take a look at those files Darrel talked about. Let's start by Darrel's one.

Name: Darrel Basset

Date of Birth: 22/07/1861

Height: 1.72m

Weight: 51kg

Appearance: Extremely thin built.

Well-defined jawbone structure.

Blonde, straight hair that reaches his shoulders.

Blue eyes.

Has many scars on his body due to his test-fights and is missing his right foot's little finger.

Personality: Normally calm, but has his moments of rage (yeah, I can see that); must be dealt with carefully and by highly-trained people. Has a curious nature and seems to pay attention to everything around him. Has shown to possess a good intellect, winning many of his fights because of his strategies.

Family: Unknown.

Year of entering the Lucifer Project: 1869

Status on Lucifer Project: Not a total failure; may still be of use. Has developed great strength and speed, as expected, but his body isn't able to keep up with the demon's blood that is pumping through his veins, due to his extremely accelerated metabolism. Because of his metabolism, the activation serum (so that's what they injected us before the fights) isn't able to keep him in berserk state for more than five minutes.

Historic: I'll skip this one, ok? Don't worry though, everything that's written here is scientific jibble jabble, like dates of injections, symptoms, prognostics and stuff like that. That's why I'm skipping this one. And, also because I kind of… you see, I… I don't really understand what is written in here due to the amount of numbers and scientific terms.

Let's just go to mine, ok?

Name: Eliza Davis

Date of Birth: 26/02/1865

Height: 1.77m

Weight: 72kg

Appearance: Muscular built.

Average sized breasts.

Soft features.

Straight black hair that reaches her knees.

Green eyes.

Personality: Very calm and cooperative; she doesn't complain about anything and obeys orders without a second thought. She is very social and has immense interest towards books.

Family: Deceased (so… uncle's dead?).

Year of entering the Lucifer Project: 1874

Status on Lucifer Project: Success. She has developed great strength, speed and regenerative capacity, which allows her to survive extremely severe wounds and doesn't let any scars form. Her bones are very dense and resistant, making it hard to get her defenseless in a fight. Her berserk state can last from twenty to thirty minutes with one dose of the activation serum.

Historic: You know the drill.

So my uncle had died while I was in that place, huh? As I've told you before, we weren't very close or anything, but I can't help but feel sad; I mean family is family, right? Talking about family, I miss mom, dad and Emma... a lot. I hope they're doing well in Heaven.

I felt something hot streak down my face. "What the? I can't believe this."

You must've guessed already: there was a tear streaking down my face… man, I shouldn't cry over things from the past. I must be tired.

Guess I'll just go to sleep now; after all, today was pretty tiring with all the killing, walking and screaming. Darrel won't mind if I take the bed, will he?

I felt like singing to relax a little, but decided against it since the walls here don't look thick enough to muffle it. So I decided to hum myself to sleep.

Indeed, today wasn't a very good day, but I can't help but look forward to what will happen tomorrow.

* * *

><p><strong>Hope you liked chapter 2.<strong>

**Now, the pamphlets encouraging people to go to America Elli talked about are a reference to the Homestead Act created in 1862. I actually don't know if the marketing reached England or not (searched in the net, but didn't find anything conclusive), but I thought it made sense. If I'm wrong, please let me know that I'll fix it.**

**Merry Christmas in advance to everyone! =)**


	3. Separate ways

**Hello to the two or three people who are reading this. XD**

**I'm sorry for the long wait, but here is the chapter 2. And it's extra long. ;)**

**I dedicate this chapter to Death Cobra Eater, who gave me the little push I needed to finish writing it.**

**Well, hope it's good.**

* * *

><p>Hello guys. Today is July 11th, and right now I'm standing in the docks of London, watching Darrel sail away to America.<p>

"Take care, Darrel!" I yelled and waved frantically to him.

"You do too!" He yelled back. "Don't forget to check up the docks in two years, ok?"

I let the tears streak down my face but kept smiling and waving to my retreating friend. "I won't!"

I kept myself there on the port until I wasn't able to see the ship. With my suitcase in my right hand and rubbing the tears off my face with my left one, I turned around to start my walk back to the city and ended up bumping lightly on an old man. The man almost fell down, but I quickly grabbed his arm and steadied him.

"I-I'm very sorry, sir." I apologized quickly and looked him up and down to see if I had made any damage. "Does it hurt anywhere? Would you like me to take you to a hospital or something like that?"

I know; I was behaving a little too desperately, but the man was old for God's sake! You'd be as frantic as me.

"Don't worry, young man." The old man reassured me with a warm smile. "I'm not old enough to be hurt just by a little bump."

It took him some time to convince me that nothing had happened to him and for we to go on our separate ways.

And no, you didn't misunderstand what the man had said; he did call me 'young man'.

Let's go back to July 7th, the day after Darrel and I escaped that castle.

* * *

><p>It was a little before noon when Darrel returned to our room in the inn where I was sleeping. He was carrying a giant bag full of bread from different types.<p>

"Rise and Shine, Elli!" He yelled as he opened the curtains. "Grab some bread and let's go! I found someone to help us with our make-over."

"Gwu auwweii (Go away)…" I mumbled annoyed, trying to cover my face with the pillow to keep the sun rays away from my eyes.

I succeed in ignoring the open window, but it isn't nearly as easy to ignore Darrel. The guy hadn't slept at all last night and he still was full of energy! How's that even possible?

The blonde didn't think twice; he took a hold of the mattress and threw it on the floor, making me go down as well.

"Was that really necessary, Darrel?" I asked angrily as I glared up at him from my place on the floor. "I was about to get up you know!"

"Of course ya were." Darrel sarcastically agreed with a smirk on his face. "I was just giving ya a little push, Elli."

"Whatever." I said, dropping my glare.

Darrel gave me his hand and pulled me on my feet. "Seriously Elli, let's go. The quicker we get this over with the better."

"I guess you're right." I concluded as I walked towards the bag full of bread. I was famished.

I grabbed a stottie cake of the bag and handed the bag to Darrel so he could have something to eat as well (though I'm pretty certain he had eaten A LOT before coming back to the inn). I grabbed the suitcase filled with the money and jewelry we got in the castle and we left the inn.

"By the way," Darrel began as we walked down the street. "I'm Josh, ya're Carol and we're dangerous outlaws, got it?"

I didn't even bother asking why; Darrel knew what he was doing.

* * *

><p>"No way, Josh! I won't let him do it!" I yelled, glaring at the blonde.<p>

Darrel and I were in a small house with a short, chubby and toady man who called himself 'the village's best stylist' in matters of clothing and hair; his name was John Harrison. The chubby man had scissors in his right hand and was standing by the only chair in the room, looking at me expectantly, while Darrel was in another room, searching a pile of clothes to find some that fitted him.

"Stop being such a fucking drama queen, Carol." Darrel said just as angrily as me. "What better way to disguise ya than making others think ya're a man? Now shut up and let Johnny cut your hair, ok?"

I looked from Darrel to John (who smiled nervously at me) and back at Darrel, trying to think of a way to keep myself from agreeing to that.

I do worry about my looks, you know? Not much I admit, but I still do. It's already sad that I'm not very feminine thanks to my height and muscular built, but to be told that I could play the role of a man? Believe me; it was like getting slapped on the face.

But, in the end, I did let them do it.

And I still wonder if l did the right choice.

John cut my hair really short; most of it was reduced to a length of just a little more than an inch. My bangs stopped by my eyebrows and the hair framing the sides of my face reached my chin. I must admit; it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.

But I still don't like looking like a man. Not. At. All.

"Ya look good like that, Carol." Darrel said smiling at me. "Now go find some clothes that fit ya while Johnny takes care of my hair."

"How short are you cutting it?" I asked, trying to push my annoyance to the back of my mind.

"How short?" Darrel repeated with a huge grin on his face. "Carol, I'll be practically bald."

I felt my jaw drop at hearing that. Bald? Imagine a person as thin as Darrel bald. He'll be turned into a skeleton!

"Wipe that stupid expression outta your face, Carol." Darrel said between chuckles. "Johnny here will make a wig with your hair for me to use. I won't become bald; I'll become a… a… a person with black hair."

"A brunette." I stated crossing my arms over my chest.

"Carol, your hair is black not brown." Darrel spoke to me as if I was stupid.

"I'm not stupid, _Josh_." I gritted out annoyed. "Brunette is the term used to identify people with brown OR black hair."

"Ya see… I didn't know that shit." Darrel said sheepishly. "Now, go find some clothes for yourself. Chop chop!"

I huffed and walked to the room full of clothes, mumbling "You would know that if you read a bit more." just for the hell of it. John didn't hear me, but I knew Darrel did though he pretended not to.

Yeah, that's pretty much the extension of my insubordination.

* * *

><p>"Thanks, Johnny." Darrel said smiling down at the chubby man as we walked out of the shop - if you could call it that. "We gonna be back to get the wig tomorrow." Then his smile went from friendly to intimidating. "It gonna be ready by then, right?"<p>

The trembling man nodded terrified. "O-Of course, sir."

Darrel's smile returned to its friendly form and he patted John on the shoulder, making him tremble even more.

"Let's go eat something, Carol." Darrel said turning his back to the man and walking down the street.

I gave John a thankful smile and went after Darrel, taking our two suitcases with me; one had our money and jewelry and Darrel's clothes while the other had my clothes.

The blonde's hair was extremely short (less than an inch long) and he was wearing black pants and shoes, a white long-sleeved formal shirt, a gray tie, a black blazer over it and a black hat. The clothes were very elegant and, combined with his confident smirk, made Darrel look like a nobleman, earning him many whispers and looks from the people around us.

Guess a village as small as this one doesn't receive noble visitors very often.

My attire wasn't as sharp as Darrel's, what was fine by me, since I don't like much attention. Like him, I was wearing black shoes and a white long-sleeved shirt, but my pants were dark green and, instead of a blazer and tie, I had a simple brown vest on, which helped to conceal my breasts (though I had them tightly wrapped in gauze as well – something quite painful, I must say).

We came across a small family restaurant and decided to enter the place. We were the only customers there at the time, so the waiter was quick to get our orders. And by 'our' I mean Darrel's.

"I want french peas, three cucumber sandwiches, boned chicken, wafers and two WHOLE apple pies." The blonde listed quickly. It was quite funny to see the waiter desperately trying to write all of that down at the same speed in which Darrel talked.

"What about ya?" He asked me.

"I must've eaten two pounds of bread when we left the inn, less than three hours ago, Josh." I said matter-of-factly. "I'm not **capable** of eating anything right now."

"Weak." Darrel stated simply with a smirk on his face, and then he turned to the waiter with his eyebrows raised. "You wrote down everything I said? 'Cause I don't wanna ya fucking up any orders, got it?"

"French peas, a cucumber sandwich, boned chicken, wafers and a whole apple pie. Did I forget something, sir?" The waiter asked mechanically with a polite smile on his face.

"Nah, ya got it all." Darrel answered dismissively.

With that said, the waiter went to the kitchen and Darrel began to chuckle.

"Why are you laughing?" I asked looking at the blonde with my head tilted in confusion.

"I can hear the guy complaining about my fucking attitude." He answered wth an amused grin on his face. "The guy may look polite and everything but he curses more than me."

I looked to the way the waiter had walked to with wide eyes. "That's something hard to imagine..."

"I think we should talk about what we're going to do after we get the wig with John tomorrow." I said seriously after some seconds of silence. "Are we really going to America? There's no way we could stay here?"

"Think with me." Darrel said with a teacher's tone. "In America, we gonna soon get some land for us; then it's a matter of time until we get a nice income to live well. Here in England, we're doomed to live poorly and work our asses off to get little cash that I bet won't be able to pay for our fucking food. Oh! Another thing to consider: the place is overseas so it'll be harder for the fucking fruity marquis to find us there."

"I know that; but…" I began lowly. "But I still want to stay here… at least for a year or two. I want to visit my family's grave, I want to see all the changes that happened here in England while I was locked away. I… I guess I want to find out what it's like to live here."

By the time I had finished my speech, my voice had raised its volume and acquired a firm tone, and my face was full of determination.

Darrel stared at me with wide eyes for a couple of seconds.

"So, you're not gonna go to America with me, huh?" Darrel asked, his expression turning from surprised to serious.

"No." I answered firmly. "At least, not now."

Then, unexpectedly, a smile stretched across Darrel's lips. It was such a strange smile; amused and bitter, satisfied but sad, proud and disappointed at the same time.

"I guess we gonna go on our separate ways, then." Darrel spoke simply, voice almost as low as a whisper, as if he was talking to himself. "I knew ya didn't want to leave England, but I never considered that ya'd have the balls to deny going with me to America. I always thought that I'd be able to get ya to follow me anywhere…"

"I thought that as well." I said softly, after some moments of silence. "My personality is weak and I'm not very bright, so I tend to obey people and do as they say. Even when living in the dungeon, I never had a problem in doing whatever the scientists wanted me to do. You, on the other hand, don't do things just because people tell you to do; you like taking matters on your own hands. You're strong and smart, Darrel" - I couldn't keep from using his real name then - "and I admire you immensely because of that."

"So why won't you fucking go with me?" The blonde asked me, looking like a lost kid for a millisecond. It was the most vulnerable look I've seen in his face.

"I don't really know." I admitted, staring into his eyes with the same lost expression he had the second before. "Maybe, because I still see England as my home. Maybe, because I'm afraid of changing. Maybe, because I don't want to be the follower for the rest of my life. There are so many possible reasons, but I don't know if any or all of them are true."

* * *

><p>We went back to the inn after Darrel had eaten; no words were exchanged between us on our way there; I didn't know what to say anymore and I think Darrel didn't as well.<p>

The next morning, Darrel and I started pacing around the town. We were looking for someone to buy the jewelry we took from the scientists, since we had spent pretty much all the money we had in specimen so far. We found someone, an old man who owned the only pawn shop - it was a very small shop, but I guess it was enough for the also very small village. He didn't have much money so we just sold him the cheapest jewelry; it was enough to get us by for a couple of days more.

"Ya know where we can find someone to buy the rest of the jewelry?" Darrel asked, munching on a piece of bread.

"I doubt you'll find anyone in this village." The old man said. "You should go to London, there are many pawn shops that search expensive jewelry."

Darrel nodded his head at the pawnbroker and walked out of the store, one of the suitcases in his right hand and a piece of bread in his left.

"Thank you." I said to the old man and followed the blonde, taking the other suitcase with me.

"Well, fuck. Guess we gotta make it do with the money we have and sell the rest of this shit when we get to London." Darrel complained as I approached him.

"I guess." I agreed nervously; things still were a little tense between us.

"That'll be such a pain in the ass." He continued, angrily taking a bite of his bread. "I was hoping to get on the first ship to America. Now, before that, we gonna have to search the city for a fucking pawn shop to sell the rest of the fucking jewelry."

"How much do we still have to sell?" I asked, trying to get my voice tone as casual as possible.

"Two gold pocket-watches, a couple of diamond and emerald earrings and three gold rings." Darrel answered annoyed. "A little more than half of what we got."

"And how long until we get to London?"

"If we push ourselves a little I think we can make it in three days." He said as he finished the bread.

"That fast?" I said, looking down at Darrel with surprised eyes. "Then we don't have to worry about having money until we get there."

"That's not the problem, Elli. Fuck, ya didn't hear what I just said?" He complained annoyed. "I didn't want to search for a fucking pawn shop there. That place is crowded as fuck!"

I couldn't help but lower my gaze to the ground because of Darrel's harsh tone. "I see… Sorry about that."

"It's okay." He began softly. "And I'm sorry too; I didn't have to be so nasty to ya. Let's just pretend the last minutes didn't happen, ok?"

"We can do that." I said, nodding my head in agreement.

"Soooo, we're in stand-by until tomorrow, right?… Maybe we could do something fun?" I asked that with the most carefree smile I was able to put on my face.

"Sure…" The blonde answered shrugging his shoulders. "What ya got in mind?"

I raised my gaze to the sky to think and stopped walking.

I could feel my jaw drop in awe. I don't know if you ever noticed, but, in a sunny day, the sky is beautiful! Its color is such a marvelous blue! And the clouds! White and fluffy, they were calmly floating from one side to the other; free from everything. At that moment I would've given anything to become a bird and fly in that sky.

Eh… I know I sound a little crazy, but I can't help it. I guess that many years without gazing up to the sky, make you realize how beautiful it really is.

Noticing I had stopped walking, Darrel halted his movements as well and turned around to see what happened to me. I'm sure he thought I was silly and childish for being amazed by something as simple as the sky, but he said nothing and just waited for me with his arms crossed over his chest and an amused smile on his lips.

It was really kind of him to just let me enjoy that moment without complaining or anything.

"You know…" I began after some time, never taking my eyes off the sky. "I've never swam in my whole life."

"So?" Darrel asked.

"So that the day is beautiful." I stated, lowering my head to smile brightly at him. "There must be a pound or something like that around here. Let's go find it!"

I didn't even give time for Darrel to complain. I quickly grabbed his sleeve with my left hand (I had one suitcase in my right one) and started to drag him with me as I ran away from the village and into the country.

* * *

><p>It was late at night when we went back to the inn. We didn't find the pound, what made me sad and Darrel very angry. Well... maybe the fact that we got lost in the country because of my little sprint contributed for his anger too... Who knows?<p>

Anyway! Even without swimming, our afternoon was really nice.

Looking for our way back, we came across a small farm in which lived a big and very kind family - just so you know, the couple had five sons and three daughters; amazing, no? We stopped there to ask for directions and ended up spending the rest of the day there, helping in the farming and enjoying ourselves.

After helping a little in the farm work, I got to play some games with the younger children; like hide-and-seek, charades, squeak, piggy, squeak and forfeit. Darrel, on the other hand, was more interested in learning a little about how to run a farm (it is his dream to do that after all) so he spent most of the time with the couple and their older children, helping in the farm work. After dinner, Darrel and I bid goodbye to everyone and went back to the village.

Our walk back was quite nice. Darrel told me how his farm in America would be, what crops he would grow, what animals he would breed, what kind of house he would build and stuff like that. He spoke with such joy and enthusiasm that it was easy to imagine everything he described.

* * *

><p>The next day, we went to get the wig from John; as he had promised, it was ready for us.<p>

"It's very good, Johnny!" Darrel complimented happily, putting it on. Then he turned to me. "So, Carol, how do I look?"

"You look very nice." I said with a smile. And, in fact, he did.

I was expecting the wig to be as short as my hair, but John decided against it. Now, Darrel has long black hair that reaches his waist and is elegantly tied in a low ponytail. With that long hair he reminded me a little of Chamberlin. Just a little.

If you ever tell him that, I'll deny it.

"Damn right I do! Now, Johnny…" Darrel said as he turned his gaze to John, who began to tremble a little. Man, I really don't understand how Darrel can intimidate people so easily.

"How do we get to Melcombe Regis?" The now brunette asked.

I was about to ask why Darrel had asked that - we were going to London right? - but he gave a look that screamed "If you say anything, I'll kick your ass!" so I waited until we were by ourselves on our way to London to rise the question.

* * *

><p>"So, why did you ask John where Melcombe Regis is?"<p>

"Elli, those fuckers won't simply forget about us. They gonna search us as a famished dog search meat." The blonde explained matter-of-factly. "If they end up finding out we were the ones using the names Carol and Josh, they gonna be off track, thinking we're going to Melcombe."

"I see; that'll make it harder for them to find us." I said nodding my head. "But why Melcombe Regis, from all the places?"

"The place's famous for its port; so they gonna think we're anywhere in the world and not look much here in England. This way it'll be fucking hard for them to find ya out."

"But you'll be abroad, Darrel. So they'll be on the right track to find you." I said, looking down at the now brunette with worried eyes.

"Relax, Elli." He said with a cocky smile. "Those fuckers aren't gonna find me; I'm far smarter than they think."

Darrel is really sweet; risking himself to take Chamberlin and Kent off my track. He knows that I'd never be able to figure out a way to keep them away by myself, while he could do it easily. I mean, I would never even think about using an alias like he did.

"Changing subjects; this is what we gonna do to meet each other again, Elli." Darrel said as we walked. "I gonna come back to England in two years. On the beginning of March from the year after the next, ya gotta go to London's docks for we to meet ok? Then ya gonna decide if ya want to stay here or go back with me."

"Alright. I guess it's the best we can do, uh?" I said sadly.

"Yeah."

"Hey, Darrel." I said after some minutes of silence, looking up at the sky with a calm smile on my face. "I don't want to share equally the jewelry and money we have."

Needless to say, he looked at me as if I had grown a second head. "What the fuck ya mean, Elli?"

"I want you to take most, if not all of it." I explained. "You want to have a farm - a big one – so you're going to need lots of money to invest. I, on the other hand, just want to find a job to get me by as I figure out what I want to do with my life so I won't need much money. Not to mention that, this way, we won't have to look for a pawn shop in London before you go to America; you'll have enough money to begin and can just sell the rest of the stuff there. "

"Don't be ridiculous, Elli." Darrel scoffed. "We'll share everything evenly."

"No, we won't."

"Yes, we will."

Well, you can imagine where this is going to, right? I won't bore you with the details of our childish argument, but I was able to convince Darrel to take most of the goods we had. It took me some good three hours, but I did it. We decided I'd stay with a little cash to pay for at least one night in an inn and one pair of diamond earrings to sell while Darrel would get the rest of the goods.

* * *

><p>London was far bigger and more populated than I had imagined. In fact, the place was so crowded that Darrel and I had to walk holding hands so we wouldn't get lost from each other.<p>

It's funny, even though I'm taller than him, Darrel's hand is a little bigger than mine; and so very warm. It was… nice… you know, to hold his hand.

"Fuck!" Darrel complained through gritted teeth as he pushed his way through the crowd, pulling me along.

"Where are we going to, Darrel?" I asked in a loud voice so he could hear me.

"Let's find the fucking docks, first." He answered with an annoyed voice. "There must have a fucking pub or some shit like that for we to ask some fucking questions."

Man, crowded places sure annoyed Darrel; not even twenty minutes in the city and he was already cursing far more than normal.

Darrel was right; there were some pubs close to the port. We chose the one that seemed the cleanest (actually, the less dirty) and entered. We sat at a table in the corner and observed the people in the place; Darrel was paying attention to what they say to find out if someone said anything about a trip to America.

Except us, each and every person there was a sailor. There were many groups of sailors there, some gambling and others just chatting loudly, but all of them were drinking.

The place's owner walked towards our table. He was an old man; short, with a snow white beard and yellow teeth. I wasn't able to see his hair because he was wearing a dirty bicorn cocked hat that was obviously bought in some corner of the town.

"What ya want, mate?" He asked us with a friendly grin.

Darrel answered quickly with a disdainful voice, not even bothering to look at the man. "Two pints of ale and whatever you have that's edible. And make it quick."

I stared at Darrel with wide eyes, surprised at his attitude. I understand that he was annoyed with the crowd and everything, but he was just veryrude to the man, more than he was with the waiter from Alderley.

Surprisingly, the old man just smirked at him. "Ya better hold back yer tongue, mate. People here get angry easy, savvy?"

Letting out an annoyed sigh, Darrel just nodded his head.

"I'm sorry about my friend." I put in quickly. "We've been traveling a lot and we're not used to such a crowded place."

The old man smiled at me and nodded his head in understanding. "Where ya going to, lass?"

"America." I answered. "By the way, do you know when the next ship destined there will be sailing?"

"Ya better run to catch her, mate." The old man answered with an amused smirk, getting Darrel's attention. "She'll be off any minute now."

"She? You talk about a ship as if it is a woman?" I couldn't help but ask, making the man laugh quite loudly.

"Ya never sailed before, uh?"

"Fuck that!" Darrel interrupted. "Which one is gonna go to America?"

Again, the man surprised me and, instead of slapping Darrel on the face, he just crossed his arms with a frown on his face. "Ya can't miss her, mate; she gotta be the only one in the docks with a big line to get in. If ya run I think ya can find someone selling tickets to the economic class close to the line, savvy?"

"Let's go, Elli!" Darrel said as he grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the pub.

"Thanks for you help, misteeeeer!" I yelled back to the man, who just smiled and waved to me.

* * *

><p>On the docks, a few meters away from the economic class line, we found a puny man selling tickets to the ship.<p>

"How much?" Darrel asked through gritted teeth.

"You luck man!" He exclaimed with a huge grin waving the ticket in front of Darrel's face. "This is my last ticket to the lady, and I'm selling it at a very reasonable price."

"I didn't ask that, you dumb shit." Darrel spat out, glaring at the man with such anger that it made him take a step back. "I asked how much."

The man was quick to answer and Darrel was even quicker to pay him; not the whole price, but the man was too scared to complain. Trade done, the man disappeared in the crowd.

"I guess this is it, huh?" I said sadly, looking down at my feet.

"Yeah…" He grabbed my chin softly and tilted my head up a bit so he could look me in the eyes. "Ya take care, ok? I know ya're kinda soft but don't let people walk over ya or anything. And never ever tell someone your real name, ok?"

"Alright…" I answered, staring back at his eyes. I tried to smile, I swear I did. But I ended up crying like a baby.

Darrel hugged me tightly. "Don't cry, Elli. Remember, this isn't goodbye."

"It's a see you later." I finished and he let me go.

He smiled up at me and kissed my cheek. "Exactly." Then he ran to the ship's entrance line.

I rubbed my eyes free of tears and stared at the front of the ship, expecting to see my friend there but, at the same time, hoping that something had kept him from entering it. It was selfish of me, I know, but I couldn't help it.

After some minutes, I saw his face.

I could feel tears streaking down my face, even as I smiled and waved my hands frantically to him.

"Take care, Darrel!"

* * *

><p><strong>I hope you liked the chapter! =)<strong>


	4. A first-rate laugh

"Undertaker!" I called, getting the man to turn his gaze from the skeleton he was petting to the coffin on my hands. "Where do I put this one?"

"Right there, Elli~." He said, pointing to corner of the room. "Be gentle with it, yes? I spent a lot of time working on it."

I nodded my head and carried the coffin to the place he had pointed to me, laying it softly on the ground.

"And what do I do with the broken coffins?" I asked, pointing to a big pile of pieces of wood; I just knew my cheeks were red in embarrassment.

"Leave those there; we'll take care of them tomorrow." Undertaker answered with that creepy smile on his face. "It's late already and you must be tired. There's a vacant room upstairs; it's the first one on your left. You may sleep there if you want, Elli~."

"A-Are you sure about that?" I questioned; my eyes wide in surprise. "I don't want to cause any trouble."

"Too late for that." He stated between giggles.

"I guess you're right." I said, feeling my cheeks burn even more. "I'm going to sleep then. Good night, Undertaker."

"Good night, Elli~."

Suitcase in hand I went to the morgue's back room where were the stairs.

You must be wondering how I ended up helping Undertaker to arrange his morgue, no? Well, let's go back a few hours.

* * *

><p>The sun was starting to set down by the time the old man and I had parted ways. Since I didn't know my way around the city, I decided it would be best to return to the pub from earlier. The place was still full of sailors.<p>

As I walked inside, I scanned the pub, looking for the old man who had talked to Darrel and me. It was easy to find him; no one else there wore a hat as big as his.

"Hey, mate." The man greeted me with a curious smile. "Weren't ya going to America? What happened? Didn't get there in time?"

I smiled sadly at the man. "The time was just fine -" (though I wish it hadn't been) "- but only my friend got in the ship; I never intended to go away."

Noticing my sad mood, the man took a hold of my arm and pulled me to the bar. I sat on one of the chairs and stared at him with confused eyes as he walked to the other side of the counter.

"So yer friend left ya, huh?" The man spoke as he handed me a glass full of a golden liquid. "Well, no matter; ya'll get by just fine on yer own here. There is lots of jobs a young lass like ya can do in this city. Now, drink up!"

I took the glass from the man's hand with a thankful nod, but didn't drink right away. Instead, I smelled the drink and, my God!, that made my nose burn. The old man cackled at my antics.

"W-What is this?" I asked.

"That's rum, mate." He answered between chuckles. "I take ya never drank before?'

"No and I don't think I'll start now. This rum's smell is horrible." I stated, pushing the glass away from me. "But if you have something to eat, I'll accept."

"Don't be silly and drink with I, mate. This will cheer ya up." The old man insisted, pouring a glass of that horrendous drink to himself.

I stared at my glass for some moments. I didn't want to drink that, but I did want to please the old man a bit; he was being so nice to me.

Noticing my hesitance, he gave me a reassuring grin. "Drink it all in one go, lass; ya not gonna even feel its taste."

Letting out a defeated sigh, I nodded my head. "Alright; but only this one, ok?"

"Of course it's only this one!" The man replied with a playful smile. "I don't give free drinks so easily, ya know."

I felt an amused smile stretch across my lips at his words and raised the glass to my lips, but the man stopped me before I was even able to taste the drink.

"What ya doing, mate?" He asked me with raised eyebrows, taking the drink form my hand.

"What do you mean?" I asked back in confusion. "I was going to drink it as you told me to."

"Ya really never drank before, huh?" He more stated than asked. "Ya gotta tap yer glass with mine before drinking the rum..."

"Why?"

He smiled and gave me back the glass. "It's a toast! We always do that when drinking with friends."

I nodded my head in understanding and smiled a little at his explanation. I couldn't help but celebrate inside my head. Not even one day in the city and I had already made a friend!

I really wished that Darrel was there with me so we could toast together too.

The old man gave me back the drink and raised his glass.

"To making friends." I said as we toasted.

I did as the old man instructed and drank all of the rum in one gulp. He lied to me; I was able to feel its (HORRIBLE) taste very, very easily. As I coughed my lungs out because of the burning drink, the man and the other sailors around me laughed loudly.

"Billy!" The old man called a young boy who was serving the tables. "Bring this lass some fish and chips."

After this experience, I have only one thing to say: I never want to drink again.

…

Well, unless it is to make a toast with a friend.

After ordering me those 'fish and chips' the old man returned to his work, but not before I was able to ask where I could find a pawn shop.

"A pawn shop? Sorry, lad, I can't help ya with that."

"Nah, it's okay." I said with a smile. "I'll find one eventually."

After I was finished, I paid for my food, thanked the old man and walked out the pub. I had barely taken ten steps away from it when I heard a masculine voice call for me.

"Hey, you with da green coat!"

I turned to see a black haired man walking towards me with his hands in his pockets. He was dressed simply, maybe a little better than me, and had an easy-going smile on his face.

I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion and looked down at myself; I was wearing a green vest, not a coat.

"You're talking to me?" I asked when he was within hearing-range.

"Yep. Now, did I heard you correct in da pub?" He asked when he was right in front of me; I think he was a foreigner because he pronounced the words very, very strangely and made more mistakes than I could count. "You tryin' ta sell jewelrs?"

"Jewelries, yes." I answered looking down at him. "Why?"

"I buy them from you, mister." The man said widening his smile. "And not worry; I pay as much as you want."

I felt my eyes widen in surprise. I wouldn't have to go look for a pawn shop and I could make my price! Am I lucky or what?

"Alright." I said nodding my head with a smile of my own.

"Thank you very much." I said to the man after I had given him the jewelry he had bought.

"No. Dank _**you**_, mister." He answered with a wide smirk on his face.

* * *

><p>After leaving the foreigner, I simply wandered around the city. There was almost no one out since it was dark already, so I could stare at everything around me as much as I wanted (and it was a lot) without worrying about people looking at me as if I was crazy.<p>

After some time I ended up standing on the middle of a bridge that crossed the Thames, just looking at the river with glazed eyes and thinking:

Maybe it'll be best to call it a day and find a place to stay the night. Tomorrow, I'll look for some kind of work; according to the old man, it won't be hard to find it. After some time here, I'll go to Warwick (my home-town, by the way) and visit my family. Who knows? Maybe I'll even stay there; it must be far calmer than London. Then, in two years, I'll come back to meet Darrel and… and…

And what? Go to America with him?

Well, I could, after all, Darrel was right when he said there is nothing for me here.

But… what if I find something here in these two years? Will I leave Darrel for it? Or will I give up on him? Permanently, this time.

…

What if it's the other way around? Who's to say that HE won't give up on me in the next two years? Maybe he won't even remember me by the time he's supposed to come back.

As these thoughts ran through my mind, I felt tears building in my eyes.

"Bloody hell…" I whispered sadly to myself. "I must stop thinking about this. It won't do me any good now that he's gone.

You know what? Suddenly I felt an immense urge to dive into the river and swim to America to stay with Darrel.

My thoughts were (thankfully) interrupted by a loud thunder coming from the skies.

At hearing it, I tilted up my head and felt a drop of water hit my forehead. The clouds were dark and covered all the stars.

Letting out a sigh and kicking the last thought to the back of my mind, I grabbed my suitcase and ran to the other side of the city, hoping to reach some kind of inn before it started raining.

* * *

><p>Well, I didn't.<p>

A couple of minutes later, the water was falling down of the sky by the buckets, making me forget about the inn and run for ANY place that could provide some sort of shelter from the rain.

The first place I saw was a building that seemed to be falling to pieces; the rain was so strong that I wasn't able to read its sign. Already soaked to the bones, I ran under its gazebo and watched the rain pour down even harder. I swear that a few more minutes and I'd have to swim my way around London.

I had half a mind to just stand there until the rain stopped, but my body was starting to get so cold that I decided to try and enter the building. Starting to shake, I turned around and knocked on the door.

No one answered so I tried again.

And no one answered again.

Well, the building was in a horrible state and there was no one in it… Needless to say, I reached the conclusion that it was abandoned and reached for the knob. The door wasn't even locked.

I thought that the inside of the building would be disgusting and full of insects and rats, but it wasn't that dirty; there was some dust and spider webs here and there but nothing more. What got my attention was the amount of big boxes (the ones where you put dead people in) scattered around. What were they called? I remember reading their name in a few books, but I couldn't remember it.

I put my suitcase on the ground and started to walk around, moving my hands up and down my arms to heat up a little bit. I stopped in front of one box that was lying on the ground, right in the center of the room.

Suddenly, something clicked in my head and I remembered the name.

"C-Coffins!" I exclaimed to myself through chattering teeth with a pleased smile on my face.

Then, the smile froze on my face, my hands stopped moving and my eyes widened in fear. The coffin's lid was being opened from the inside.

Let me express my thoughts more clearly: THERE WAS A BLOODY CORPSE MOVING INSIDE THERE!

Now, I've seen many strange things during my time in the dungeons, but, as far as I'm concerned, DEAD PEOPLE STAY DEAD!

Pulling myself together, I stepped down on the lid, preventing the… the thing from opening it any further (by the way, I swear I heard an "Eek!" coming from inside the coffin), grabbed the coffin and threw it across the room, as far away from me as possible. It collided with many objects (mostly coffins) on its away, destroying most of them.

Cold forgotten, I waited for the thing to raise itself from the pile of coffins and attack me, ready to fight back and re-kill it again with my bare hands.

"Ohhh…" The thing mumbled as it stood up. "My pooooor custom-made coffins; why would anyone do such a horrible thing to you~?"

Dropping my fists to the side and relaxing my posture I watched a man dressed all in black with long gray hair and an even longer hat on his hat stand up and caress one of the coffins lovingly. My God!, his nails were long.

Well, the corpse was very much alive and seemed to be the owner of this place.

And I had just attacked him.

You know? I thought about asking him to get a coffin for me, because I felt as I was about to die out of shame.

"I-I'm so sorry!" I exclaimed as I rand towards the man. "I-I swear I thought you were a walking corpse or something like that! Or else I'd never attack you like that! I didn't hurt you, right?"

The man seemed unfazed by my desperate question, turning his head calmly to me with a creepy smile on his face.

"Weeee~ll, what do we here?" He began in a sing-song voice. "A new guest-" (new? Where were the others?) "-how wonderful! What's your name, boy?"

I felt my jaw drop and my eyebrows furrow in confusion. I had just thrown him across the room and he was happy to have me here? He was crazy. He had to be.

"Eh… I-I don't think I'm y-young enough to be considered a b-boy..." I stuttered out, starting to shake again as the cold returned to my body.

"Oh my, you must be freezing." The man stated as he finally noticed my state. "You have dry clothes with you, boy?" I nodded my head. "Then change yourself while I make us some tea~."

That said; the man walked to a back room, leaving me gaping at him. Not wasting any time, I decided to follow his instructions and put on some dry clothes quickly, before he came back.

I changed into a pair of black pants and a long-sleeved green shirt; my feet were bare since I didn't have another pair of shoes.

I walked towards the pile of coffins and began to pick them up to arrange them as I waited for the man to come back.

Was he really going to make me tea? Wasn't he mad at me? After what I'd done to him and his coffins? He did seem to give them a lot of value…

I had a coffin on my hands and was staring at it by the time he came back from the other room. Actually, he popped back.

Right. Behind. me.

"Tea is ready~." He pretty much purred on my ear.

Startled by his presence, my arms clenched on reflex, destroying the coffin they were holding and letting its pieces fall to the ground. The man looked over my shoulder at the pieces on the ground then turned his now neutral face to my beet red one.

"I-I'm really s-sorry…Again." I whispered in shame and frustration. "I d-didn't mean to…"

Hearing my words, another creepy smile stretched across his face.

"Don't worry~; we'll take care of my beautiful coffins later. Now come drink tea before it gets as cold as you~."

He made me sit down on one of the very few coffins that had not been moved by my stupid actions and gave me a cup of hot tea. I thought he would drink some as well, but he simply stood there in front of me with that ever-lasting creepy smile on his face.

"How come you're not angry at me?" I couldn't help but ask, making his smile grow even more, something I thought was impossible.

"Hehehe…It was actually very funny. Hehehe…" He said between chuckles, his body shaking softly because of them. "You thought I was a zombie… Pfft! Hehehe…" The shaking started to grow. "A zombie! KYAHAHAHAHAH!"

My eyes widened as he laughed uncontrollably, rolling on the ground and drooling like the crazy person he was (I had no more doubts of that). I couldn't help but glance longingly at the door, thinking that I should've just waited for the rain to stop on the outside.

"How could I stay angry with someone who gives me a fist-rate laugh like that?" He purred after his laughter subsided. "Not to mention that I don't receive talkative guest like you often."

Sipping on my tea, I couldn't help but furrow my eyebrows at him. Talkative? Me? But I had barely spoken five sentences to him!

"Now, you didn't answer my question back there. What's your name~?"

"M-My name?"

I had hoped he would forget about that; I hadn't thought up a fake name for me yet! I was almost giving him my true name, but a little voice in the back of my head screamed at me: _Don't do it, Elli! Tell NO ONE your real name._

"You can call me Elli…" I answered without even thinking.

"Elli~. Elli~." He sang the word as if tasting it. Seeming pleased, he nodded his head at me. "I like it. But I don't believe it's your real naa~me. Is it short for something?"

Holding back an annoyed sigh, I nodded my head.

"For what?"

I bit my lower lip for a few seconds, racking my brain for ANY masculine name that I could use.

"Elliot!" I almost yelled. "My name is Elliot, Elliot Hall." Don't ask me where that Hall came from; it was the first thing that came to my mind.

"Elliot Hall?" He asked and I nodded my head nervously.

"Wee~ll, I like Elli better; it sounds _**more like you**_." He had seen right through my lie, but didn't seem to mind it. "You can call me Undertaker, Elli~."

"Alrig- Wait! What? You're not telling me your name?"

"No!" He said happily.

"B-B-But… That's not fair!" I complained, pointing an accusing finger at him.

"Life's not fair, Elli~." He, the Undertaker, spoke with his sing-song voice, though something about his demeanor was very somber as the words left his lips. Then, as quick as it came, it was gone and he went back to his happy/crazy/creepy posture. "Now, finish your tea and come help me with my beautiful coffins, yes?"

My God; was I doomed to meet only crazy people?

* * *

><p><strong>Finally, Undertaker has made his appearance!<strong>

**BTW, about Undertaker and all the others cannon characters: Please warn me if I write them OOC (flames will be more than welcomed in this case) because I intend to keep the story as cannon as possible.**

**Thank you for reading it! I hope you enjoyed the chapter! =)**


	5. Mortuary or hell?

Today is July 26th and the weather is simply terrible. The sky is full of thick clouds that don't let much of the the sun's light reach the ground, giving off a very melancholic atmosphere. Needles to say, it's a perfect day to stay indoors with a hot cup of tea in your hands.

Instead of doing that, I'm inside a small carriage with Undertaker, going to a place I've never been before to meet someone that makes me very uncomfortable, even more than the crazy mortician.

"I just want to say that I hate you." I stated, glaring at the gray-haired man in front of me. "I truly do."

The bastard actually chuckled at my statement.

"You're incapable of hating someone, Elli~." He purred, smiling widely at me. "Now, stop saying things you know aren't true. Trying to fool yourself like that is truly pathetic."

I huffed in annoyance and turned my face from his smiling one to glare out the window. Sometimes, he was just like Darrel; saying what I could or couldn't feel as if he knew me better than I did. Well... I must admit: they've never been wrong in their assumptions. But that attitude was extremely annoying, especially in the mortician. At least, Darrel didn't make me feel stupid when he did that.

Wait a moment. Where are my manners? I haven't even greeted you yet.

Hello, how've you been? Good? That's nice; at least one of us is.

You'll have to forgive my angry behavior, but these last two weeks have been a living hell to me. And I owe it all to just one person. You know who I'm talking about: that creepy and enigmatic mortician who seems to live for the only purpose of laughing – mostly at my expense, I might add. You have no idea how much I regret ever entering his mortuary. Dying of cold would've been less painful than putting up with that man.

Since that rainy night, I've been living with the Undertaker, working for him to pay for the (accidental!) destruction of his oh-so precious custom-made coffins. Of course that I don't have a problem with working to pay for the damage I've done (it is only fair); it's working FOR HIM that bothers me.

You see, Undertaker gives me many kinds of chores. Cleaning his house, moving furniture and coffins, going to get something from the market, helping him to dig the graves for his "guests" are the kinds that I have nothing against.

One problem is that he's constantly finding a way to make fun of me. The other is something he asks me to do at least once a day. Something that makes me disgusted with myself…

No, no, no! Nothing like THAT! God, I expressed myself badly…

Undertaker is crazy, creepy and eccentric, but not a pervert. Even if he was, I doubt he'd fancy ME. I believe that women who are pale, thin, languid and cold would fit his tastes better…

Anyway. Let's go back to the day that followed that fatidic rainy night for you to know what happened in these last two weeks.

* * *

><p>The first thing I did after waking up was to take the payment I had received for the jewelry from my suitcase, hoping that it'd be enough to pay back the Undertaker for my stunt on the night before. With that in hand, I left the small bedroom and made my way around the mortuary; this time paying attention to things around me.<p>

The room I had slept in was connected to a narrow and dusty hallway, in which were two other doors. One was open right in front of me, showing a full-equipped and, surprisingly, clean bathroom. The other door was closed, at the end of the hallway, opposite to the stairs. I didn't go in to find out what it was because I wasn't willing to intrude more than I already had.

The stairs took me to the mortuary's back room; it was a kitchen. A very messy one. There were dirty pots and cups and plates (many of them chipped) scattered in the sink, on the table and even on the stove.

There were two doors in the kitchen. One was made of wood and lead to the reception room. The other lead to a room more in the back and was made of metal, with a big lock to keep it sealed.

As I've said before, I didn't want to intrude, but I couldn't keep myself from walking towards that door. This whole building had a somewhat morbid aura in it, but whatever was beyond that door took the prize.

"In a way, it reminds me of the labs…" I murmured to myself, touching the cold material softly with my empty hand.

"Good mo~rning." Undertaker sang in my ear, making me jump slightly in fright. I swear that he'll literally scare me to death one day! "You took so long to wake up that I was beginning to think that you had died in your sleep. Hehehe… it'd be much appropriated for you to die here in my home. Don't you agree, Elli~?"

I honestly didn't know how to respond to those last words. He had spoken them with such a dreamy and hopeful voice. It was very… unsettling. To say the least.

"Now, what are you doing he~re?" He questioned, grabbing the hand that was on the door and pulling me to the reception. His hand was as cold as a corpse's; the exact opposite of Darrel's. "We've got lots of work to do to fix the mess you made yesterday."

"Don't worry." I began as we left the kitchen. "I have money to pay you back." That said, I freed my wrist from his grip and raised my payment in front of me.

"I don't want your money, Elli~." He spoke as he turned around to face me. "I want you t- What's that?"

"A receipt." I stated matter-of-factly with a smile on my face. "I had some jewelry with me and I sold them to a man yesterday. He didn't have real cash with him, so he gave me this receipt. He told me that any bank would exchange it for the amount of money that's written in it. I trust it'll be enough to compensate for the damage I've done, no?"

The Undertaker just moved his gaze from the paper to my face with a blank expression. I felt my smile drop and my eyebrows furrow in confusion; that reaction surely was not the one I expected.

"Are you serious?" He asked after some moments.

"Well… yes."

Slowly, his lips stretched into a larger version of his trademark creepy grin and his body started to shake softly. I took a couple of steps back in caution; he was going to have an attack of laughter just like last night.

"KYAHAHAHAHAHAHA~!"

I truly didn't understand why he was laughing like that. There was nothing funny about me wanting to repay him, right?

"Oh God…" Undertaker breathed out after some minutes (yes, MINUTES!) of laughter. "You're one of the must amusing creatures I've ever met, Elli~. A truly found. Hehehe…"

"Thank you?"

"That wasn't a compliment." He said between giggles. "You're amusing because you're far too silly for your own good, Elli~."

"What do you mean?" I asked, narrowing my eyes at him.

"That piece of paper in your hand isn't worth one pence, Elli~." My jaw dropped at hearing that.

"What? T-That can't be right!" I stuttered, frantically moving my gaze from the smiling man to the paper I was holding. "The man assured me t-"

"He lied to you, Elli~." He cut me. "I'm sorry."

He wasn't sorry in the least; the big grin on his lips was prove of that. And, my God!, that grin angered me so much that all I wanted to do was punch it out of his face.

But my anger was quickly overcome by sadness as Darrel's words came to my mind: _"Ya take care, ok? I know ya're kinda soft but don't let people walk over ya or anything."_Feeling tears build up in my eyes, I turned my back to the mortician. Not even one day by myself and I had already disappointed Darrel! How could I be so stupid? Wasn't I able to do any right decision by myself?

Undertaker encircled my shoulders with his right arm, pulling me out of my thoughts. It was amazing how, even with layers of clothes keeping him from actually touching me, I could feel the coldness coming from his limb.

Reluctantly, I raised my teary eyes to his face.

"Don't cry, Elli~." He spoke softly, his grin was smaller but still in his face. "You can stay here, helping me in the mortuary. I sure could use the help of a strong boy like you."

It was impossible for me to say if that offer was made because he actually was a kind person or because he wanted to have me close to laugh at me (now I know it was the latter). Well, I didn't have anywhere else to go and I did owe him…

"Alright…" I whispered, rubbing the tears off my eyes. "Thank you for that."

* * *

><p>My first job was to clean the mortuary; it took me three days to finish (the place was kept closed during that time). It wasn't a bad chore at all; the manual labor kept my unpleasant thoughts - like Darrel's absence and that foreigner's trick - away from my mind. The only problem was that Undertaker supervised me most of the time, telling me what I should do and always making comments like:<p>

"Are you not capable of thinking a little, Elli~? It's obvious that this goes in there." or "How don't you know that? Even a little kid does." or his personal favorite "You're so silly, Elli~! It'd be actually kind of cute. That is, if it wasn't so extremely sad and pathetic."

BLOODY HELL! I already know I'm an idiot! I don't need that creepy Undertaker to remind me of that every fifteen minutes!

…

Eh… Sorry about that little outburst, but it really irritates me to think about his words. They're very hurtful…

Well, I'll stop complaining now and go back to what really matters.

So, in those three days I was able to **truly** clean the morgue, with the exception of those two rooms. Undertaker kept them closed all the time.

"Undertaker, you know those rooms that are always closed?" I asked on the third day. "They are the only ones left for me to clean. Could you open their doors?"

"Don't worry about them, Elli~." He answered. "Believe me, I keep them spotless."

"Ah… Okay, then." Damn; I was hoping to find out what they were. Well, I'll have to think of another way to ap-

"You want to know what they are, Elli~?" Undertaker more stated than asked, with a knowing smile on his face. How was he able to know what I wanted without me saying anything? Darrel did that too... Am I that easy to read?

"Yes." I admitted.

"The room upstairs is my bedroom." He said.

"Your bedroom? Really?" I let out with wide eyes.

"Ye~s. Why the surprise?"

"Well… You see… It's just that…" I began awkwardly, just knowing he'd make me fun of me because of what I was about to say. "I thought that you slept here in the reception room. Inside your coffins, you know."

You read it right; I was dumb enough to actually believe that he did that. In my defense, I always went to sleep before the Undertaker so I never saw him going upstairs to his room. It was silly of me and everything, but you have to admit that it's not that hard to picture him spending his nights inside a coffin. Right?

"KYAHAHAHAHAHAHA~!" Undertaker started laughing bending his body forward and hugging his stomach. "You truly thought that I sleep in a coffin? KYAHAHAHAHAHA~!"

"But you were doing just that on the night we met!" I exclaimed in my defense, cheeks burning in embarrassment.

"Hehehe… I wasn't sleeping there, Elli~." He purred after his laughter subsided a little. "I was just checking to see if I had done a good job. I always spend some minutes inside my lovely coffins to check if my clients will be comfortable in th~em." I couldn't (and still can't) say if he knew that dead people are incapable of feeling comfort.

"You're so, so silly, Elli~." And there it was! "To actually think that someone could spend his nights inside a coffin. Hehehe… How dumb."

"Whatever." I mumbled, crossing my arms over my chest and pouting like a child. "And what about the other room?"

"Oh, that one…" He began with that grin on his face, only bigger and creepier. "Don't worry, you'll see what's in there with your own eyes ve~ry soon."

Letting my arms fall to my sides, I gulped. That smile of his told me that I wouldn't like what was in there.

* * *

><p>Undertaker wasn't kidding when said "very soon". In the middle of that night he woke me up to give me another work to do; it was the first of many nights to come in which he'd wake me up to do what I believe is one of the most disgusting things a person can do.<p>

"Elli~! Wake up, I need you downstairs." He spoke loudly through the door, making me fall off the bed in fright. "I'll let a coat hanging on the knob. You change into that and go down. Be quick, ye~s?"

Still kind of sleep-drunk, I crawled to the door and opened it just enough to grab the coat he had talked about; it was so dark that I couldn't even tell its color. Raising myself, I put on the coat, not understanding why it was necessary.

Before going down, I went in the bathroom to splash some water on my face to see if it'd help me to wake up. Fortunately, the moonlight illuminated the bathroom somewhat, allowing me to see my reflection on the mirror. That's when I noticed that the coat I was wearing was just like the ones the scientists did.

"What is the meaning of this?" I whispered angrily, quickly taking off the white coat. "No way in hell I'll wear this!"

You do understand my feelings, no? I spent my whole life at the hands of people wearing these white coats; they took me away from my uncle and put me through horrible things. Darrel was right when he said that I'm incapable of holding a grudge against someone, but that doesn't mean I just forget things. I remember everything the scientists did to me in that place and, while I don't hate them for it, I can't stand the idea of looking like them. It sickens me to no end.

Eyes narrowed, I stomped down the stairs, clenching the lab coat in my right hand. I reached the kitchen, ready to tell the Undertaker that I wouldn't wear that thing, but he was no where in sight.

"Undertaker!" I called to the empty room. "Where are you?"

"Over here, Elli~." His voice came from inside that room that was always locked. "Come, quickly."

My eyes widened at seeing that the door was opened and that he was actually asking me to go in there. Forgetting my anger, I quickly stepped in that room, hugging myself as I did; it was quite cold in there.

Dropping the coat to the ground, I felt my jaw drop and my eyes widen even more; it was just like the labs! The room was white and very well illuminated. There were two mortuary tables side by side, a regular one glued to the wall with many surgical instruments on top of it and a big sink by its side. There were also two cabinets; in one were bottles full of liquids of different colors and, in the other, there were pots holding human body parts.

Memories from my time in the dungeons and labs flooded my head and I must admit that I felt fear. A lot of it. Breathing starting to accelerate, I couldn't help but take a step back, feeling an acid liquid raise to my throat.

Suddenly, I was a child again and there was no Darrel besides me. I was alone. I could see the scientists walking towards me with needles in their hands; behind them, Boris and Chamberlin were smiling sadistically at me. I couldn't go back to that place! NO!

I made a quick turn and was about to bolt out of that mortuary when the Undertaker appeared by my side, softly holding my arm with his cold hand.

"What's wrong, Elli?" He asked and, for the first time, he seemed to be serious.

I turned my wide and fearful eyes back to the room, but it was empty now, then I looked down at myself and saw that I was an adult again. I was safe; it had all been in my head. I almost laughed in relief.

"N-Nothing…" I whispered between deep breaths. "Nothing is wrong. W-What did you call me for, Undertaker?" I asked, praying he'd let that pass. And, to my surprise, he did.

"Well, I need you help to carry a new guest, Elli~." He sang, recovering his usual creepy grin and pulling me in the room.

Then I noticed there was another door in there and that it was open. We went through it to the outside, where was a black carriage. Undertaker opened the vehicle's door, revealing a fat man's corpse. Oh boy, I wasn't going to like that one bit.

"There he is!" He stated happily. "Now, Elli, take him to one of the tables in there, ye~s? And do be gentle with him; he is our guest after all." Reluctantly, I nodded my head and walked towards the carriage.

I don't know if you were able to deduce from the way I acted when I thought that Undertaker was a moving corpse, but dead people disturb me a little bit. Yes, I've killed people before, but I never stuck around them after that. As far as I'm concerned, when the person stops breathing, you stop messing with him/her; I think it's the most respectful way to behave.

"I'm sorry…" I whispered to the man as I carried his cold and rigid body into the mortuary.

As I laid the big man on the metal bed, Undertaker closed both of the room's doors and picked up the lab's coat I had dropped on the floor.

"Now, put this on, Elli~." He sang, extending the coat to me. Bloody hell! I was hoping he'd let that pass.

"Must I, Undertaker?" I whined, looking at the white coat in his hand with a disgusted expression. "What's the difference if I wear it or not?"

"A~ctually, this isn't truly necessary." He said, throwing the thing behind his back. "That was just a courtesy from my part, to make sure you didn't get blood on your clothes."

"Why would I get blood on my clothes?" I asked him.

"Come one, Elli~." He began cheerfully, walking to the table that was full of surgery instruments. "Take a look around and, just for one minute, pretend you have a brain."

I couldn't help but glare at the Undertaker at hearing the insult (it was completely uncalled for!), but he was so focused on examining a small knife that he seemed to forget I was even there. Letting out an irritated sigh and dropping my glare, I did as I was told and took a look around.

It was a surgery room; that much was obvious (and unnerving). Maybe Undertaker has the habit of cutting open his "guest"? I couldn't help but shudder at that thought; it was very gruesome. But it made sense… I mean, Undertaker is quite a peculiar (read crazy) character, and to operate on dead bodies was something so… well, so him.

Okay, he has the (disgusting) habit of cutting dead people open, but that still didn't explain why he wanted me there. Unless… No, it can't be. That'd be ridiculous and sick… I mean, he couldn't honestly want me to-

"You don't want me to help you do whatever nasty things you do with the corpses that are brought in, right?" I finished my thoughts out loud, watching the mortician walk towards the body with that knife on his hand and that huge creepy smile on his lips.

"My, my, you do have a brain after all!" He exclaimed happily, cutting open the fat man's shirt. "That's exactly what you will do, silly~!"

"No, no, no, no and NO!" I protested, moving my right index-finger in front of me for emphasis. "I'm sorry but I won't do it, Undertaker. I really dislike messing with the dead ones. It's disrespectful!"

I'll confide one thing to you: that wasn't the real reason I didn't want to help the mortician. Sure I didn't like poking around dead bodies, but the truth was that I didn't want to be like those scientists. The idea of examining people's bodies like they did to me, Darrel, Emma, and many others is very much disgusting.

"You don't have to help me prepare our guests if you don't want to, Elli~," He purred raising his gaze to me, and I can swear that, for a small moment, I could see his eyes flash a golden color. "As long as you tell me you **real** name a~nd what happened to you to make you so… hmm… let's say uncomfortable? Yes, uncomfortable in this be~autiful room of mine."

Well, that assured me that he knew about my first lie to him; something that didn't actually surprise me.

Now, did I want to tell him the truth about me just to avoid helping him in that particular work? Yes, more than anything. Would I? No, definitely not; I wasn't going to tell my name to anyone.

"Very well, then." I said through gritted teeth, taking a place besides the Undertaker. "What should I to do?"

* * *

><p>The "preparation of the guests", as he called it, was somewhat different from one corpse to the other. Undertaker actually didn't open up the bodies of most of people he received; he just got them ready for their funeral. The mortician just cut them open in two occasions: when asked by the authorities to find out what happened to person and when the person was excluded from society (homeless, prostitutes, thieves, etc.).<p>

He made me help him everyday (actually, most of the times he'd call me in the middle of the night to help him), always saying the same thing: "You can stop helping me, Elli~. All you have to do is tell me about yourself."

I think it was a smart strategy to find out about my past, since I felt closer to the breaking point each time I entered that room. Well, at least Undertaker didn't make me touch the bodies (actually, he expressly forbid me of doing do) and just asked me to pass chemicals and instruments to him and wash the latter after he was finished.

Even so, I swear to you that helping him with that was slowly killing me. That chore made me so sick that I wasn't able to sleep at night and had lost my appetite completely. The only way I'd eat something was when Undertaker ordered me to. And, if I threw up (something quite frequent on the first days), he'd make me eat something else, until I was able to keep the food inside.

I looked so pathetic; I had bags under my eyes and my muscle mass was starting to decrease, making some of my bones poke out a little bit, something that never happened before.

"You have to eat, Elli~." Undertaker ordered one day, putting a London bun in my hand. "You're losing too much weight. It's actually making you look like a gi~rl."

Now, that caught my attention. As much as my inner self was somewhat happy to hear that I looked feminine, I couldn't let that happen.

Needless to say, after hearing that, I forced myself to eat as much as I could in an attempt of regaining my weight. Well… I was able to put on a few pounds, but not as much as I had lost.

Now, let's stop talking about that horrible chore and its effects on me and focus on the other aspects of my days with the Undertaker.

After the first week in the mortuary, Undertaker started to ask me to do some errands for him, like delivering letters to people and taking things - that ranged from wood (to make the coffins) and chemicals to food - from stores to the mortuary. Even though everything I had to get was already paid for, Undertaker always gave me a small amount of money when I went out, saying that I could spend in something for myself. I never did though; the only things I wished to buy were some books and the amount Undertaker gave me wasn't enough to afford any of them.

That's all I have to tell you from those two weeks. As you can see, my life in the mortuary was quite boring and stressful. Boring because it was always the same, and stressful because Undertaker made me "prepare his guests" with him and always had an insult to say to me when we were in the same room.

* * *

><p>The end of my boredom came two days ago in the form of an old woman named Maryann Lewis.<p>

I was alone in the mortuary sweeping the reception room when Madam Lewis came in. She had a small and thin build that gave her a very fragile appearance; also she was dressed all in black, most likely in mourning for someone.

"Good afternoon, madam." I greeted nervously (normally Undertaker was there to receive the customers) as I put the broom away. "Eh… Undertaker is out right now, but he should return soon. Would you like to wait for him?" I noticed her eyes widen in shock when she looked at me. Why that happened I still don't know.

"Y-Yes, please." She spoke softly, almost in a whisper.

"Eh… Well, you can sit here." I said pointing to coffin and feeling my cheeks burn in shame (why didn't we have chairs?). "W-Would you like some tea, madam?"

"No, thank you very much." She answered as sit down, never moving her eyes from my face.

Then, an awkward silence began. I was standing in front of her, looking down and nervously fidgeting my fingers. Even though I didn't dare to raise my gaze to the woman, I could feel her attentive eyes on my face, staring at me as if I was the most interesting thing in the world. She managed to make me feel even more uncomfortable than Undertaker.

"What is your name, child?" She asked softly after some moments. "Mine is Maryann Lewis."

"I-It's Elliot Hall, Madam."

"What a lovely name." She spoke dreamily. "It fits such a lovely boy." I could feel my cheeks burn even more at hearing that. "You must be around sixteen or seventeen, no?" Undertaker's arrival kept me from correcting her.

"You guessed it right, Madam Lewis." The mortician exclaimed with a polite voice and walked towards me, laying a hand on my shoulder. "Sweet Elliot here turned seventeen last week."

"And where are his parents, Mister Undertaker?" Madam Lewis asked as she stood up. Why the interest in my life? Surely she had other business in the mortuary.

"Oh, they died in a carriage accident a few weeks ago." The mortician answered with a dramatically sad voice. "I met this poor boy crying his eyes out during their funeral. He had nowhere to go so I brought him here to live with me for a while. It's really sad; he is so shaken that he can't even eat properly."

"Poor child." The woman whispered, closing her eyes and letting tears stream down her face as she grabbed my hands and hold them close to her chest.

To say I was confused was an understatement; I was simply lost. Even so I couldn't help but feel very uncomfortable with the woman's gesture and very angry at the mortician; I don't know why he was lying to that poor woman like that, but he was making her very sad.

She planted a kiss on the back of my one of my hands before releasing them and opening her eyes to look up at my stunned face with a kind and sad smile on her lips. The compassion in her eyes was so intense that made me feel like crying.

"I-I… Eh… You see… I… Well… Excuse me, please." I said finally, before running to my room.

What the hell had happened?

* * *

><p>Undertaker entered my room a couple of hours latter, grinning like always. I, on the other hand, narrowed my eyes at him as I raised myself to a sitting position on the bed.<p>

"I have good news for you, Elli~." He sang cheerfully. "You're free from helping me with my guests for the next three days."

"That is good news!" I exclaimed; my eyes widening a bit before narrowing again. "What's the catch? I'm not telling you about my past."

"I know tha~t. Unlike you, I have a brain that works very well." I felt my jaw clench in irritation, but said nothing. "All you have to do is take one of my beautiful coffins to Madam Lewis' house. Oh! And bring something from there as well."

"What?"

"It's a golden medallion; a ve~ry pretty thing that Madam Lewis carries around her neck."

"She wears it? Wait a minute… does she know that I'm supposed to take that from her?" I asked with an accusing voice.

"My, my; you were quick to pick up on that one, Elli~. I'm surprised. Hehehe…" The Undertaker purred. "No, she doesn't know you'll bring that to me. But don't wo~rry, I'm sure you won't have any troubles in taking it from her."

"WHAT?" I yelled out in anger, jumping to my feet as I glared daggers at the surprised mortician. "YOU WANT ME TO ROB THAT POOR OLD WOMAN? WASN'T LYING TO HER TO THE POINT OF MAKING HER CRY ENOUGH FOR YOU? T-T-THAT'S SIMPLY VILLE!"

I had to kill the other experiments to survive in the labs; I had to kill the scientists and guards to get away from that place; I had to hurt Darrel's feelings (and my own) to keep living here in England and now Undertaker wanted me to rob an old woman. When was it going to stop? I am just so tired of having to harm other people to just keep living with myself.

Undertaker's stunned expression gave place to a pleased smile (not a grin!), something that confused me, though I refused to show it and kept glaring at him.

"Don't worry, Elli~." He said softly. "You won't need to rob Madam Lewis. This may come as a surprise for you, but I do have morals and they keep me from robbing good people such as her." Now I couldn't keep the confusion from reaching my face.

"But then how-"

"Just trust me, Elli." He said firmly. "You won't need to steal the medallion from her."

I let out an exasperated sight. Trust Undertaker? That didn't seem like a thing a smart person would do… But, as the mortician reminded me so kindly, I am not a smart person.

"Fine." I mumbled, sticking out my hand for him. "But if I find out that you made me hurt that woman somehow I'll hit you, Undertaker. Hard."

He just widened his smile and shook my hand.

Oh God... Once again, what did I get myself into?

* * *

><p><strong>Hope you liked the chapter. =)<strong>

**Also, reviews are very much appreciated. ;)**


	6. Change of heart

**Hi there... It's been a while, I know, but there's something I'd like to say to redeem myself for the wait:**

**Over 7000 words. That's how long this chapter is. ;)**

**Reminder: to anyone who's interested, I'm also writing a fic about Chamberlin: 'When being better isn't good enough'. **

**And thank you to DeathCobraEater for the constant support and reviews! =) They are the fuel to this fic.**

**That said, I hope you like this chapter.**

* * *

><p>It's amazing how Nature can be ironic some times. Today, July 28th, was a beautiful, sunny day with lots of birds flying and singing around; everything about today gave off a calm and lively vibe.<p>

One would never expect that a funeral would take place in such a day, but it did. Now, as the sun is setting down, I am in front of the grave of a person that I learned to love like a mother in record time (amazing how quickly I get attached to people…). I am not crying, if that's what you're imagining. I already had the time to mourn and accept her death. Still, I didn't want to leave her just yet…

'Maryann Lewis

1820~1887'

That shocked you? Wait until I tell you this: Undertaker is here with me and his presence is not bothering me. To tell you the truth (and that's our secret), I am happy that he's with me right now.

You must be completely confused, no? Well, let me fix that.

The last time we talked I was with Undertaker in a carriage, going to Madam Lewis' house…

* * *

><p>We took two hours to get to Madam Lewis' house. Two long, uncomfortable and agonizing hours in the most thick and uncomfortable silence that ever existed. It was broken only by an occasional roar of my stomach (we didn't eat anything before leaving the mortuary in the morning).<p>

Needless to say, the carriage hadn't even completely stopped in front of the house and I was already out of it, loosening the ropes that kept the coffin that Madam Lewis had bougth on its place on the carriage's ceiling.

"What's the hush, Elli~?" The mortician asked, poking his head out of the window to look at me. "Madam Lewis isn't going anywhere."

"Indeed she isn't. I just want to get away from you." I said under my breath as I carried the coffin to the front door.

"There's no need to be so hasty in there, oka~y? Take your time and enjoy Madam Lewis' hospitality." What did he mean by that? "I'll be back to get you in a few hours." Wait, WHAT?!

I turned around so quickly that I almost let the coffin fall to the ground.

Only to see the carriage in movement once again, going back to London.

"Bye bye~." Undertaker sang, waving to me through the window. I didn't respond; I was too shocked to do so.

THAT BLOODY BASTARD! There's no way he didn't realize how uncomfortable Madam Lewis made me the other day! And yet, he left me there to spend hours in her company! I sure hope he'll start working on a brand new coffin once he arrives to his mortuary.

One. Just. For. Him.

It took me a couple of minutes and lots of deep breaths (and some mental images of Undertaker's long and painful death by my bare hands) to calm down and turn back to the house.

I must say that Madam Lewis' home was simply adorable. It was a cream colored two-store building with lots of luscious bushes - some even had flowers in them. It was also pretty isolated; the only other building I could see was a small and old church, but even that was a good walk away.

As I walked towards the door, I noticed that there was a black dog laying on the ground and staring at me with curious eyes; a HUGE dog at that. I still believe it was a cow dressed up as a dog…

"Hey, boy." I whispering, crouching down in front of it and stretching my hand.

It was quick to approach me, ignoring my stretched hand and deciding to sniff the top of my head instead (I told you it was huge). Only after some seconds of sniffing that it allowed me to pet its head. I felt a smile stretch across my lips at seeing how quickly it warmed up to me. I stood up after some seconds of petting and went towards the door.

Letting out a resigned sigh, I propped the coffin on the ground and knocked on the door. To my surprise, it wasn't Madam Lewis that answered it, but another woman; she seemed to be in her early twenties and was dressing a simple but elegant dark blue dress.

"Good morning. You must be Mister Elliot, correct?" I nodded. "Splendid! You arrived just in time; Lady Maryann and I just finished preparing breakfast."

"You made breakfast for me too?" I asked in disbelieve and she nodded with a warm smile. "You shouldn't have bothered... Not that I'm not grateful! I just don't want to trouble anyone…"

"You really are a sweet thing!" She exclaimed, making my face heat up. "Don't worry, Mister Elliot; it was no trouble at all. Lady Maryann was actually looking forward to this."

"If you say so… But, first, where would you like me to put this?" I asked, pointing to the coffin by my side.

"Oh, silly me! I was already forgetting about the coffin." The woman exclaimed with an amused smile on her face. "Here, let me help you with that."

"There's no need for that, Miss…?"

"Catherine, but there's no need for that 'Miss' thing with me! Just call me Cathy." She spoke with a big smile.

"Alright, Cathy it is. But you'll have to drop the Mister as well; just call me Elli." I said smiling back. "Don't worry about the coffin; I can carry it anywhere by myself with no problems."

"You sure about that?" She asked, examining the coffin with a dubious expression. "It seems to be quite heavy."

"I'm sure." I reassured her, raising the coffin of the ground and holding it over my right shoulder to prove my point. "See? It's no problem at all."

"In this case, follow me." We entered the house and Catherine leaded me to the last door of the main corridor. "This is the basement." She explained as she took a key out of her pocket and opened the door. "Lady Maryann didn't tell me where she wants the coffin so we'll just leave it in here for now."

That said she opened the door, revealing a dark medium-sized room full of what I believed to be furniture (I couldn't know for sure because they were covered by white sheets).

"Cathy, I was wondering about something…" I began softly as I walked inside and laid the coffin on the ground carefully. "To who did Madam Lewis bought this coffin?"

My question was met with silence. Furrowing my eyebrows, I turned to Catherine; she was staring at the ground with a sad face and I just knew I had touched a nerve. Damn it! Not even ten minutes in here and I was already committing gaffes.

"Y-You don't have to tell me if you don't want to!" I put in almost desperately as I walked out of the basement. "I'm shouldn't have asked. I'm sorry. I was just curious."

"No, it's alright, Elli." Catherine spoke softly, forcing a smile on her lips and relocking the door. "Lady Maryann bought this coffin for herself."

"To herself?" I echoed in surprise.

"Yes. I don't know why but Lady Maryann is convinced that she'll die very soon." She continued sadly. "I guess she just want to have everything ready…"

"I see…"

* * *

><p>Well, needless to say, we made our way to the dinning room in absolute silence.<p>

I wanted to say something to lighten up the mood, but what could I say? It was obviously a touchy subject for Catherine and I have the tact of a drunken elephant to deal with delicate matters; you've seen it when I ran away from Madam Lewis in the mortuary.

"Please, pretend I didn't tell you about the coffin, Elli." Catherine asked in a low voice when we reached the dinner room's door. "Be cheerful and happy with Lady Maryann, yes?"

"No problems." I answered with what I hoped was a reassuring voice.

"Thank you." Catherine said relieved, recovering the smile on her face and opening the door for me.

We found Madam Lewis (once again dressed all in black) sitting at the most adorably breakfast table I've ever seen (let's be real, the only decent breakfast table I've ever seen). There were many types of bread, fruits, cold cuts, cheese and jams set in the loveliest way; I thought it was almost a work of art.

"My God…" I breathed out with wide eyes. "You must've had so much work to arrange this."

"It was fun." Cathy stated happily. Then she simply left the room so it was only me and Madam Lewis in there. Oh, Undertaker, when I get my hands on you…

"Good morning, Elliot." Madam Lewis greeted happily, getting me out of my thoughts. "Don't just stand there; sit, sit." She spoke cheerfully, motioning to the empty chair besides her. Of course, I obliged and sat down stiffly and nervously beside her.

"Good morning, Madam Lewis." I greeted back with what I hoped was a friendly smile on my face.

Then we just sat there in a tense silence for some minutes. I kept my gaze lowered to my fidgeting hands, not even knowing how to begin a conversation. But, even with my eyes downcast, I just knew that Madam Lewis was staring at my face with that same expression of awe of some days ago, something that made me even more nervous about the whole situation. Honestly, what was the deal with my face?

"Do I make you nervous, Elliot?" She asked, at last breaking the thick silence.

"A little…" (A LOT) I admitted, raising my eyes to hers. "I'm sorry. It's just - You see, this… situation is just" (extremely creepy) "a little overwhelming for me."

"No need to apologize, Elliot." She began sweetly, holding my hand softly. "Your parents just died. You are feeling very lost and lonely. Anyone that reminds you, even if a little bit, of what it feels like to be in a family is bound to be met with a mix of excitement and apprehension; no wonder you're nervous."

"That makes sense." I said with a nod of my head. And it truly did make sense, but I couldn't help but wonder if she was truly talking about me. It sure didn't seem so… It was as if she was talking of personal experience.

"Now, why don't we dig in, huh?" Madam Lewis offered with a big smile, releasing my hand after one reassuring squeeze. "I did have all of this prepared for you, after all." I couldn't help but blush at hearing that.

"Thank you very much, Madam Lewis." I almost meowed with an embarrassed smile. "You're very kind."

* * *

><p>The initial awkwardness was gone soon enough, all thanks to Madam Lewis. She was great at keeping up a conversation: whenever we approached the end of a topic, she'd make a connection to another one, never letting our talk die. And, thank God, the topics she chose were very light and not at all emotional, it seemed she was trying (and succeeding) to make me comfortable around her.<p>

"Would you like to take a walk around the place, Elliot?" She asked a good hour after we had finished eating.

"I'd love to, Madam Lewis." I answered with a big smile on my face.

As soon as we left the house, the dog ran to us, wiggling its tail in excitement at spotting Madam Lewis.

"Hey Brutus!" Madam Lewis said happily, petting the huge dog's head. She didn't even have to stretch her arms to reach it. "You met our sweet Elliot already?"

I felt blood rush to my face at hearing the compliment as I answered Madam Lewis' question in the dog's place since it's wasn't going to talk. Moo maybe, but not talk.

"We did meet when I arrived." I said softly, petting Brutus' head as well (I had to bend down a little bit to do so). "He's a very good boy. Very docile."

"Really?" Madam Lewis asked in surprise. "That's unusual; Brutus tends to be quite aggressive with strangers. You must be really good with animals, then."

"I guess so."

Actually, I didn't think I was. I never had a pet before, but I do have some memories with street dogs from before I was kidnapped. Memories of them chasing me down the streets, normally trying to take a bite off me.

"Elliot, there's something I'd like to show you, but only if you're comfortable enough with me." Madam Lewis said and I could see that it was something serious. "What do you think? Would you make me company for a few more hours?"

Feeling another heavily emotional situation approaching, I almost made up some excuse to avoid going with her, but there was something in her voice, an almost pleading tone, that kept me from it. I could see it then: she was feeling very lonely for a very long time and, for some reason, I was the one that could ease up that feeling.

With Emma's smiling face in mind, I put on the warmest smile that I could muster and nodded my head.

"It'd be my pleasure to accompany you, Madam Lewis."

* * *

><p>We walked in a comfortable silence towards the old little church with Brutus following. Occasionally, I'd throw a stick for the dogcow to catch and it'd bring back to me. It was weird how I was so comfortable with Madam Lewis' presence now, considering the way she freaked me out in the mortuary.

The church seemed to be abandoned. Even so, when we were close to it, Madam Lewis did the sign of the cross (I copied her, more out of reflex than true reverence though) and led me to the cemetery that was behind it.

There weren't many gravestones there, but most of them were full of dust and spider-webs. There were three exceptions; they were clean and full of beautiful, luscious flowers of the same type that grew in the bushes in front of Madam Lewis' home.

"In this tombstone are my husband's parents." Madam Lewis explained as we passed in front of one of the first one. "In this one," she continued as we passed in front of the second "are my parents."

Then we stopped in front of the third one and my eyes widened in shock. There were two photos with names and years beneath them; the first belonged to 'Mark Lewis 1804-1854' and the second to 'Emille Lewis 1838-1855'.

"And in here…" Madam Lewis began sadly. "Are my husband and son."

I looked exactly like her son, Emille.

So that was why Madam Lewis was so interested in me; why she had been so kind to me. It wasn't because she had liked ME… I was just a replacement to her son; simple as that. It was understandable for her to do so.

Then, why I did I feel disappointed and sad with that?

"Mark died of pneumonia. I was devastated..." Madam Lewis continued, not noticing my drop of mood. "I refused to talk to anyone after that; it was as if my life had lost all its meaning and, soon enough, I didn't even leave my room anymore. E-Emille would try to talk me out of that numbness everyday, but I just i-ignored him."

On the last sentence, her voice started to tremble, making me turn my eyes from the grave to the old widow before me. She was crying silently, her face full of sadness and the deepest regret I've ever seen. It was truly heartbreaking.

Before I knew it, I had my arms around Madam Lewis. I didn't know what possessed me to do that, but it was the only thing I could think of doing to comfort the poor woman before me and, at that moment, I would've done anything to ease her sadness, even if just a little bit.

"E-Emille died in a carriage accident…" She continued, her fragile body trembling. "He… he was going t-to the city to find a d-doctor who could help me. My poor son! H-He died because of me!"

It was so intense… her misery, her regret, her guilt. I felt the anxiousness and discomfort rushing back to me; I just wanted to run away.

But I couldn't. I wouldn't.

I had my own break downs: one was on the day I woke up in the dungeons for the first time and the other when I was 'promoted' to the special cell. I only got through that because Emma and Darrel were there for me. Now it was my turn to give the same kind of support to someone.

I hugged her tighter to myself. I would be there for her, just like Emma and Darrel had been there for me.

* * *

><p>It took a long time for Madam Lewis to calm down.<p>

"I-I'm really sorry, Elliot." She said in a shaken and low voice, letting go of me. "And thank you."

"Don't worry about it." I said softly, giving her a reassuring smile and, to my utmost happiness, she smiled back. True, the smile didn't reach her eyes, but it was a start.

"It really saddens me to remember how little value I gave to my son back then. He was just looking after me…" Madam Lewis resumed talking, turning her sad gaze back to the tombstone. "He is still, you know? He was so worried about me that he just couldn't leave."

"What do you mean?" I couldn't help but ask.

"There's actually one more thing I'd like to show you, Elli." Madam Lewis stated and pulled a golden chain from underneath her clothes, revealing to me a gold medallion. "An angel gave me this medallion during Emille's funeral. He told me that Emille was still too worried about me and refused to leave this world. Thus, instead of taking Emille's soul to Heaven, the angel put it in this medallion and gave it to me."

I knew that Madam Lewis was telling the truth. But something told me that something was wrong with that angel… I mean, an angel wouldn't do something like that, right?

"The angel told me to live a happy life as Emille wished, so his soul would have no regrets and be set free after I died." Madam Lewis concluded, letting tears streak down her face. "My poor son… he didn't deserve such a troublesome mother."

"Don't say that!" I protested instantly, making Madam Lewis widen her eyes at me. "You're a wonderful woman, Madam Lewis. I believe Emille was extremely lucky to have you as a mother and I'm sure he did so too. Why else would he wish to stay with you even after he died?"

Madam Lewis' shocked expression gave place to a soft and grateful smile.

"You are very sweet, Elliot." She spoke softly, holding my hands. "Thank you very much."

* * *

><p>I was back at the house, helping Madam Lewis and Cathy to prepare the lunch when the rain started to pour down the skies.<p>

"Oh my! This isn't good." Cathy let out, looking at me with anxious eyes.

"What's wrong?" I asked, blinking in confusion. "It's just rain."

"The road tends to get too swampy when it rains." Madam Lewis explained. "If this rain doesn't stop soon, I don't believe your carriage will be able to reach this place, Elliot."

* * *

><p>Well, the rain didn't stop for one minute of the day. I didn't mind though. Spending my time in Madam Lewis' home with her and Cathy was extremely pleasant; with them I felt truly welcome and liked. It was far better than staying with Undertaker in his cold mortuary.<p>

Madam Lewis told me to spend the night in Emille's room. I was uncertain at first, but she assured me it was okay. "Emille would've wanted that." She said.

I was staring at the rain through the window when there was a soft knock on the door.

"Are you awake, Elliot?" Came Madam Lewis' soft voice. "Can I come in?"

"Of course, Madam Lewis." She came in with a big and thick blanket in her hands, making me rush to her side. "Madam Lewis! This is too heavy for you!" I scolded lightly as I took the blanket from her hands.

"I just wanted to make sure you wouldn't feel cold at night." She explained, turning her head to the window.

"Thank you, Madam Lewis." I said as I put the blanket on the bed. "But you really shouldn't worry…" I let my voice fade away when I looked at Madam Lewis; her eyes were completely glazed over showing that she wasn't listening to me.

"Storms like this always scared Emille when he was younger." Madam Lewis spoke with a nostalgic tone. "He'd come to my room to sleep between Mark and I." I couldn't help but smile at hearing that.

"You know… I don't like storms either." I began hesitantly, making Madam Lewis turn her wide eyes to me. "It's just… They make me feel a little apprehensive." It was a lie, but it was a white one. "If it's not a bother, maybe, would you let me spend the night in your room, Madam Lewis? I don't mind sleeping on the floor."

Her face glowed at my request.

* * *

><p>I did spend the night in Madam Lewis' room, but not on the floor as I had initially planned. She insisted that I slept in the bed with her... and you know me right? I have serious problems with denying things to people.<p>

And so we slept in her king sized bed. Me lying on my back on the left side of the bed (closest to the window) and Madam Lewis lying on her side, holding my right hand in hers softly.

Madam Lewis reminded me of Emma. I loved them as if they were my mothers.

* * *

><p>A noise - kind like a BANG - woke me up in the middle of the night. I examined the room as I waited for my eyes to get accustomed to the darkness. It seemed Madam Lewis hadn't even stirred in her sleep; she was still lying by my right, holding my right hand softly in hers.<p>

Careful not to wake her, I sat up and strained my ears, trying to discover where the sound had come from. Maybe it was a thunder? No… the rain sounded too soft now. What could it be then?

Brows furrowed, I gently took my hand out of Madam Lewis' grasp and made my way towards the window to open its curtain a bit; just enough for me to take a peek.

My eyes widened at what I saw. There were men, armed men, approaching the house and, a few steps behind them, there was Brutus' corpse. They must've shot it at the first bark.

Angry, I felt my eyes narrow and my hands tight into fists; those bastards were going to try and rob the house. Not thinking twice, I stamped towards the door with the same grace and delicacy of a flying hammer. Needless to say, I woke up Madam Lewis.

Now, I'll only say this to you alone (and if you tell anyone I'll deny it): Undertaker is right; I am truly stupid.

"E-Elliot?" I heard Madam Lewis sleepy and confused whisper. "Is everything alright?"

"Everything is perfectly well, Madam Lewis." I lied, trying (and failing miserably) to keep my voice calm and sweet. "Go back to sleep. I'll return shortly."

That said, I rushed out the room and went down the stairs three steps at a time. It seemed that Cathy was still asleep. _'Good._' I thought. _'Maybe I'll be able to take care of those guys before her and Madam Lewis realize what's going on.'_

The men were already really close to the house by the time I had gone out of the front door.

"What do you think you're doing?" I demanded of them, putting up the most intimidating pose I cold muster (if only Darrel was here to do that…) "You know what? Don't even answer that question; just go away and I promise not to hurt any of you."

The idiots actually had the nerve to laugh at me.

"Hey Johnny!" One of them complained loudly between his chuckles. "You said there was only one bitch living here with the old hag." I felt my eye twitch at hearing the insults. Scratch that not hurt thing; they'll feel pain.

"No need to whine, Stevie." The John guy replied. "This fucker won't give we more trouble than the dog. Actually, I'll take care of he right now."

That said, the man raised his gun in my direction and shoot. Quickly, I dodged the bullet and ran to his said, grabbing his armed arm roughly.

"That wasn't very smart…" I stated coldly, tightening my grip until I heard that sickening 'pop' that assured me I had broken the bone. Only then I released my grip, letting him fall to his knees, howling in pain. "And I didn't like the way your friend over there talked about Madam Lewis and Miss Catherin."

I couldn't help but smirk smugly; none of them were laughing now. It seemed that that little stunt was enough to scare them.

"I'll say it one more time." I spoke gravely. "Leave."

"What you all waiting for? A fucking invitation?!" The Steve guy yelled after some seconds of tense silence. "We are five; he is one! Just shoot he already!" And so they did.

The exact thing I was trying to avoid began: loud, shooting noises that'd surely alert Madam Lewis and Cathy of what was going on.

I felt my blood boil in rage, but it wasn't the same way it did when Undertaker bothered me. Oh no… it was more like when I had to fight an especially distasteful experiment in the dungeons. It kind of sickened me to realize that I could feel that way in the 'real world'.

I jumped and dodged of the many bullets' way as I ran towards the closest man to me. He pointed his gun to my head, but, before he could pull the trigger, I gripped his wrist with my left hand, pushing it down as I threw a punch at his face and sent him flying backwards. As soon as he raised himself, he ran away to the woods.

Then I jumped behind another guy. Before he could even turn to face me, I aimed a kick at his side, making him fly and ran away just like the other one.

Then I turned my gaze to the idiot who gave the brilliant order to shoot: Steve. He was trying to reload his gun, but his hands trembled so hard that he let the bullets fall to the muddied ground. That was my cue.

"Would you like some help?" I offered, standing in front of him as he knelt down to pick up the bullets.

I gave him just enough time to raise his fearful eyes to my narrowed ones before kicking his chin as a kid would do with a ball.

After all of that, I didn't even have to fight the last one who was standing. I just turned my face to glare at him and the man set off to the woods like a scared child. I couldn't help but let out a chuckle at seeing that.

"I wouldn't be so amused if I was you, bastard!" John, the first guy I hurt yelled behind me. I allowed a tired, almost bored sigh escape from my lips; damn, the guy was insistent.

"Really? And why is t-" My eyes widened and the words got stuck in my throat when I turned around to face him.

He was some steps in front of the house, broken arm hanging by his side and the other one raised in front of him… pointing a gun at Madam Lewis' head. Her eyes were wide and her body was trembling in what I believed was a mix of fear and cold. I could also see Cathy standing in front of the house, eyes even wider than Madam Lewis'.

"Hehe; not looking so hot right now, huh?" John began with a malicious voice, walking slowly towards the forest pushing Madam Lewis to do the same. "You're a strong boy, I give you that. Why don't you join us? With these jobs we make big money in little time and…"

He continued blabbering nonsense (as if I'd ever join bandits), all the while moving closer and closer to the woods. I wasn't paying attention to his words, but I was watching his every move. One slip of his… it was all I needed.

"So what you say?" He asked at last.

"I'll pass."

"I was afraid you'd say that." John stated, shacking his head in mock-disappointment. "I'll be on my way then, but first…" He slipped his gun under Madam Lewis' medallion's chain and raised his arm a little, making it slide to his shoulder. "I can't leave with empty hands now can I?" That said, the bloody bastard pushed Madam Lewis roughly to the muddied and took off to the woods.

That was the biggest mistake of his life. The last one too.

In a blink of an eye, I had picked Madam Lewis off the ground and ran into the house with her. She was shaking really badly in my arms and I already could feel her temperature raising.

"Follow me." Cathy ordered and ran up the stairs. "We have to take her out of these wet clothes and into a warm bath as soon as possible."

"N-No…" Madam Lewis whispered weakly. "M-My medallion… I c-can't lose it."

"Don't worry, Madam Lewis." I said with a reassuring voice. "I'll get it back. I promise."

* * *

><p>As soon as Madam Lewis was lying in her bed, passed out underneath thick and warm blankets, I was off to the woods to recover her medallion from those bloody bastards.<p>

I was murderously angry. Literally speaking. I didn't want just to scare them off anymore; I wanted to kill them for what they had done to Madam Lewis. But I had no intentions of indulging in that particular urge; I had killed enough for a lifetime.

I found them all grouped not too deeply into the woods.

"That fucking bastard!" John complained. "He ruined everything!"

"Forget it, John. He's too strong for us." One of them said. "Let's just give up on this place and find another one."

"Don't be stupid, Robbie!" John yelled. "That fucker doesn't live here; the old hag must've gotten him as a temporary plaything. When he leave, we return there to take everything and kill those bitches."

Needless to say, I changed my mind about not killing them.

Good thing the rain had thickened and the thunders had returned. This way neither Madam Lewis nor Cathy were able to hear their screams.

* * *

><p>With Madam Lewis' medallion in hand, I returned to the house as fast as my legs allowed me to. All I could think about was Madam Lewis' shaken and sickly state. I hoped that what happened hadn't scared her irreparably, I hoped that her fever had passed already and, most of all, I hoped that my actions hadn't made her afraid of me.<p>

Cathy was waiting for me by the door with a towel in her hand.

"How is she?" I asked, as the maid handed me the towel.

"Not very well, Elli." She answered sadly. "Her temperature seems to have risen even more."

I felt a sharp pang in my heart. If I had woken up earlier, if I had been more cautious not to wake her up on my way out, if I had finished off those guys quicker instead of trying to just scare them off, if-

"You should get out of those wet clothes, Elli." Cathy's worried voice took me from my mental self-beating. "I already set aside some of Emille's clothes for you. They're laid on your bed."

"Emille's clothes?" I couldn't help but ask. "Are you sure about that?"

"It's what Lady Maryann would've wanted." Cathy stated simply.

And she was right; that was something that fit perfectly in Madam Lewis' character. I nodded my head and started to climb up the stairs.

"Elli…" Cathy's shaken stopped me on my track. "W-What happened to those men?"

"Don't worry about them." I answered, fighting so very much to keep my voice free of any sadism. "I did a great job in scaring them off. I'm sure they are in a place far away from here by now."

That place's name is Hell.

* * *

><p>After changing into dry clothes, I went straight to Madam Lewis' room. Cathy was already there, sitting by Madam Lewis' bed and watching her with tearful, worried eyes. As I approached the bed, I felt my own eyes fill up with tears.<p>

It was going to be a long, miserable night.

* * *

><p>Madam Lewis opened her eyes woke up on the next morning.<p>

"Madam Lewis!" / "Lady Maryann!" Cathy and I exclaimed happily, rushing to her side.

"H-Hello there." Madam Lewis answered in a weak and pained whisper. "I'm glad you b-both are safe. I-I was worried…"

"We w-were worried about you too, Lady M-Maryann." Cathy said with a trembling voice, dropping to her knees by the bed. "W-We thought you'd never open your eyes again... I-I was so scared."

"Oh, C-Cathy; don't cry. P-Please. It p-pains my heart to s-see you like that."

"F-Forgive me, Lady Maryann." Cathy apologized, rubbing the tears on her sleeves. "I w-will try not to c-cry. Oh! I was a-almost f-forgetting; E-Elli was able to r-recover your medallion!"

I dropped to my knees besides Cathy.

"Here, Madam Lewis." I said, putting the jewelry in her hands. "This way, you'll keep it close to your heart until the end."

"Thank you, E-Elliot." Madam Lewis breathed out smiling at me. "You've d-done a lot for this poor, old woman, but I-I'm afraid I'll ask one more favor from you."

"Anything, Madam Lewis." I put in without even thinking.

"After I p-pass on, return this to i-its owner." She spoke. "I-I know this is important for him t-too."

Then Madam Lewis fell asleep again.

* * *

><p>After some hours (it was dark again), Cathy fell asleep on her chair as well. The poor girl must've been exhausted to pass out in a position as uncomfortable as she was. Gently, I carried Cathy to Emille's room and laid her on the bed.<p>

I went back to watch over Madam Lewis' sleep, as a worried son would do. But it was too late then; I could see that she had stopped breathing from the room's entrance.

I closed the door behind me and walked close to the bed. Madam Lewis' face was peaceful and beautiful: her eyes were closed softly and there was a small, but warm smile in her lips. The medallion was in her right hand, which was laid over her heart.

Sobbing quietly to myself, I fell to my knees. At that moment, I felt extremely lonely.

Even so, I couldn't help but feel dread as I heard the door open behind me; I didn't want to see Cathy, right now… What would I say to her when she'd be feeling even more miserable than I did? I just wished Darrel was there with me; he would've known what to do.

I was pulled from my thoughts when a hand was gently laid on my left shoulder. A very cold hand; with long fingers that had long, black nails in them.

"What are you doing here, Undertaker?" I asked in a cold and shaky whisper; too sad to feel any kind of anger towards the mortician. When, surprisingly, my question was rewarded with silence instead of a snarky remark, I turned around to face the man.

He was… serious, solemn even. There was no creepy grin on his face. He only stood there, sitting on the ground in front of me with his legs crossed and, though his bangs shielded his eyes from my view, I knew they had something in them. Not sympathy, no. Understanding.

I… I don't know what happened to me then, but I couldn't help myself. I threw myself into the mortician's arms, hugging his cold body tightly; finding in him a comfort I didn't believe he was able to give. For once in years, I wasn't crying silently to myself, but as a desperate child who had just lost her mother. Undertaker actually hugged me back and allowed me to cry for as long as I needed, not complaining nor criticizing me even once.

* * *

><p>Cathy and I arranged Madam Lewis' funeral; we were able to make it happen on the abandoned church nearby her house on July 28th (as I've told you on the beginning). The ceremony was simple and brief, but very beautiful. Only a handful of people showed up, but that was to be expected if you take into account Madam Lewis' age and calm lifestyle.<p>

"What are you going to do now, Elli?" Cathy asked me. Everyone had left already, leaving only the two of us in front of Madam Lewis' grave.

"I believe I'll continue living with Undertaker for now. If he allows me to, that is." I answered. "What about you?"

"I'm going back to my hometown." She began, starting to walk towards the road. "I left that place with my parents when I was just a child and came to London. They died a couple of years after that and Madam Lewis took me in, so I never had the chance to go back there."

"I understand." And I truly did; I was dying to go back to my hometown as well.

We reached the road, then; Cathy carriage was the last one there.

"Would you like a ride to London, Elli?" She asked me.

"No, thank you." I answered with a smile. "I think I'll stay a little more with Madam Lewis."

"You are the sweetest boy I've ever met, Elli." (maybe because I am a woman?) Cathy said, giving me a hug. "I hope to see you again."

"Me too."

Then she released me, entered her carriage and took off. I stood some time there by the road, smiling and waving to Cathy. When I couldn't see the carriage anymore, I walked back to Madam Lewis' tombstone.

Undertaker decided that it was the time to get out of the 'backstage' and finally approach Madam Lewis' grave. We both stood there as the sun started to set down.

"It was a be~autiful ceremony." Undertaker sang from besides me. "You did a wonderful job, Elli~."

"Thanks."

Neither of us mentioned what happened that night even once, but I'll admit that I started to see the mortician with other eyes since then. He was not a s bad as I first thought.

Not moving my eyes from the tombstone, I took the medallion out of my pocket and offered it to Undertaker.

"So~, you're just going to give it to me?" He asked in a surprised voice. "No lecture about how I used you to take advantage of the kind, old Mary?" Believe it or not, there wasn't a single drop of sarcasm in his voice when he talked about Madam Lewis.

If there was, I would've sent him flying back to the mortuary.

"But you didn't do that." I said, feeling a small smile stretch across my lips. "This necklace was yours to begin with. Right, Angel?"

"Hehehe…" Undertaker chuckled softly and finally took the medallion from my hand. "So Mary told you, huh? I wonder how someone like YOU-" (and there it was! That acid sarcasm he loved to use on me) "-knew it was me~? I looked quite different that day; even she didn't know that it was me~."

"What she told me… was it true, then?" I asked,

"What do you think, Elli~?" He asked back, voice full of curious excitement. "Do you believe in angels?"

"I-I believe in demons." I spoke in a low and hesitant voice. Something in Undertaker's posture tensed at hearing my words, but I decided to overlook that. "So it's not hard for me to believe in angels. But I don't believe that angels would imprison someone's soul in a piece of jewelry. You, on the other hand…"

"Are you saying that I'm a demon?" The mortician asked with a long face.

"No, you're not a demon, Undertaker." He cheered. "Demons are supposed to be extremely alluring; you're far from that." Then his face dropped again (sorry; I just had to make fun of him).

"What am I then, Elli~?" He basically demanded with an enormous grin on his face and I could swear I saw his eyes twinkle in anticipation. I turned my gaze from him back to Madam Lewis' tombstone.

"Death." I answered in a whisper.

"Hehehe; not exactly..." He commented. "But close enough. I guess you're not as stupid as I first thought, Elli~."

"What, then?" I asked, turning my head to stare at him. "What are you exactly?"

Undertaker stared back at me silently with a thoughtful look on his face. I had to chuckle at this. He was in the same situation as me; he wanted to tell me the truth, but there was something that kept him from doing it.

"You don't have to tell me, Undertaker." I began good-naturedly, giving him a big smile. "It won't make a difference anyway." Undertaker seemed surprised by my words, so I continued. "It doesn't matter WHAT you are because it won't change WHO you are. You're Undertaker and always will be. Creepy, weird, annoying – extremely so, by the way – and, surprisingly, kind Undertaker."

"Hahahaha!" The mortician laughed heartedly, petting my head (I'm not a dog to be pet damn it!). "You're truly naïve, Elli~! It's so-"

"Stupid, dumb, retarded, pathetic, sad, ridiculous, idiotic…" I completed angrily, shoving his hand from my head. "Did I forget one?"

"Likeable~." Undertaker stated with an amused voice, making my jaw drop to the ground in shock.

That was a compliment, right? Undertaker was actually giving me a compliment instead of a snide remark? Oh my God, it's the end of the world! Repent for your sins; the Judgment Day has arrived!

"Don't look so shocked, Elli~." The mortician complained with a pout. "You make it look like I'm always mean to you."

"You are!"

"That's not true. I'm honest, not mean." He defended, dropping his normal carefree attitude and taking a more serious, almost hostile one. "For most people, naivety is a synonym to all of those things you said. Do you know why?"

"Eh… Because it's easy to take advantage of naïve people?" I more asked than answered, feeling the hairs at the back of my neck standing up at Undertaker's sudden change of mood. If cheerful Undertaker was annoying, this one in front of me was almost terrifying.

"Correct." He continued, eyes staring off to the distance. "And there are so many people in this world that just can't wait to do so. They will lie, threaten, torture and kill. They will do anything to explore the other; anything to get more. They're never satisfied with what they have."

Undertaker's voice was vicious; full of disgust and confined anger. In an attempt to calm him down, I took a step towards the mortician and grabbed his arm softly. He turned his head to me sharply, making me remove my hand out of reflex as one would do at touching something hot. But, at least, it seemed that I succeeded in calming the mortician down somewhat, for he recovered his usual creepy grin as soon as he set his eyes on me.

"A~nd it's because of those people that something as beautiful as innocence becomes a fault, a weakness. Because of those people, you're obliged to run and hide, Elli~." My eyes widened at those words. What was he talking about? There was no way that he could've found out anything about me, right? "Because of those people you're obliged to be someone you're not. Isn't that right, Miss Eli~za Davis?"

My heart was pounding heavily in my chest as I stared at Undertaker's golden eyes with my wide and unbelieving ones.

Just… How did he find out?!

* * *

><p><strong>So? How was it? 0.0<strong>

**I found this chapter extremely hard to write; specially Undertaker's part. I truly hope he wasn't too OOC, ****but the impression he gave me when criticizing Ciel for not giving value to what he has and talking about the beauty of the bizarre dolls for not being able to lie was of being someone good, but disgusted with humanity.**

**I have one last thing to say, that isn't very good... ****Because of my studies, I don't believe I'll be able to post any new chapters until December or January... T.T Sorry.**

**Anyway, I hope you liked the chapter! =)**

**Kisses**

**RedVoid**


	7. LL

**Hello everyone!**

**'Guest', I did my best and here it is! Happy Birthday! (too late or too early?) And thank you for your review; it made me really happy! =)**

**I hope everyone like this chapter! **

* * *

><p>"Honestly, I think we're wasting our time here Undertaker." I stated in annoyance, harshly closing the book I was reading. "We're three days from Christmas; people are in this fair looking for presents and cute adorns to put in their homes, not coffins."<p>

"But why! Death comes to everyone~!" The crazy mortician said, spinning around with a skeleton in his arms. "A coffin as beautiful as mine would be the pe~rfect present!"

"Only if you want to cut relations with someone…" I mumbled as I reopened the book.

"You're so grouchy today, Elli~." Undertaker said, pushing my book downwards and putting his pouting face in its place. "Why is that?"

Letting out an exasperated sigh, I rolled my eyes. "I am not grouchy." I denied, though I knew it was true. "I just think that being here is a huge waste of time. We could be at the mortuary; that place might be a little cold and everything, but not nearly as cold as here."

"That's it?" The crazy mortician asked in disbelief. "You're that grouchy because of the cold~?"

"I said I'm not grouchy!" I snapped, pushing Undertaker's face away from mine. "Just leave me alone." I mumbled and went back to my book.

Not five minutes of reading and I already regretted my words. As much as I hate to admit, Undertaker was right: I am especially touchy today because of the cold. The worst is that I have no reason to be cold! I'm wearing thick black pants, a long-sleeved shirt, a wool sweater, a long black coach the mortician lent me and a red scarf that covered my neck, mouth and nose.

Letting out another sigh, I raised my eyes to Undertaker, who was petting his skeleton and whispering something about me being a cold-hearted witch.

"Sorry…" I said in a low voice. "I shouldn't have snapped at you like that."

Soon, his trademark creepy grin was back on his face. "You're forgiven, Eli~za."

"Don't call me that in here!" I whispered harshly, jumping from my seat to put my hand over his mouth. "What if someone hears you?!"

The mortician pushed my hand away and grinned in amusement. "But you said that no one is coming in~."

"Well, yes… But-"

"That means there's no problem in me calling you by your given na~me. Elli~za.

Elli~za. Elli~za. Elli~za…!"

My jaw and fists were already clenched in anger, what only amused the crazy mortician even more.

"BE QUIET!"

Surprisingly, my outburst had the desired effect and shut him up.

For five miserably short seconds.

"KYAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Decided to ignore the mortician, I sat myself on the chair I was before and tried to go back to my reading but Undertaker's obnoxiously loud laughter kept me from concentrating on the book.

Well, guess it is for the best, since I need to fill you in on what happened from Madam Lewis' funeral to today, December 22nd.

I left you when Undertaker revealed that he knew my name, right? Let's go back to there then.

* * *

><p>I couldn't believe my ears… Undertaker knew my name! Not only my name, actually: he had made it very clear that he also knew of my current situation. To say I was surprised would be the understatement of the century. I was completely flabbergasted! It seemed that my brain had given up on me and shut down completely.<p>

I was so out of it that I didn't even feel Undertaker push me into a carriage (where had that come from by the way? I could swear on my life that Cathy's was the last one there) to take us back to the mortuary. I only snapped back to reality when the carriage passed over a bump on the road. And that only happened because the bump was big enough to make my head hit the carriage's ceiling.

"Ouch!" I let out, caressing the top of my head. "That hurt an awful lot…"

It took me some seconds to assimilate where I was and how I had gotten there.

When I did though, I was desperate: how did Undertaker find out about me?! I was being so careful not to let anything slip! I was even cross-dressing as a boy! I WENT AS FAR AS HELPING HIM OUT WITH THOSE BLOODY AUTHOPSIES, FOR GOD'S SAKE!

"I need to know." I murmured to myself as I opened the carriage's window. "And I need to know right now."

Quickly I climbed out of the window and juggled my way to sit besides the mortician on the driver's sit.

"Finally~." Undertaker whined with a big grin on his face. "I was getting so bored, Eli~za." I couldn't help but flinch at hearing my name. "I knew that calling you by your given name would be a shock. Never imagined that you'd disconnect from reality though~. Guess it was a bit too~ much for such a little brain, huh?"

"How?" I asked in a desperate whisper, choosing to ignore that last phrase. "How did you find out about me?"

"Straight to the point, huh~?" Undertaker asked, widening his already far too big grin. "There are people looking for you, Eli~za. Very dangerous people." That said, he raised an envelope to my face. "Take a look at this~."

Wordlessly, I took the envelope from him; it had been opened already. I'll admit to you, I was very nervous, and anxious, and worried… and a bit nauseous as well; my hands were even shaking as I opened the thing. In it, there was a brief letter that read the following words:

'_Lucifer asks for your help in locating two fugitives. Their photos are accompanying this letter.' _(Undertaker must be keeping the photos to himself then for there were none in there)

'_The man goes by the name of Darrel Basset. He is wanted dead or alive._

_The woman goes by the name of Eliza Davis. She is **needed** **alive**. _

_The rewards for these two individuals or any kind of information about their whereabouts will be extremely generous. Lucifer never forgets those who help him.'_

Needless to say, reading that letter made me even more nervous; my shaking increased and I could feel cold sweat all over my body. I knew that Chamberlin would look for us, but I had never imagined he'd go as far as recruiting random people to help him!

…

But… was Undertaker really a random choice? I couldn't help but think as I observed the mortician by the corner of my eyes. He was staring forward and whistling a merry tune as he held the horses' ropes, seeming to have forgotten I was even there. He seemed completely oblivious and - for lack of a better word – innocent. But I knew that he was nothing close to those things and that he was hiding many things from me. Could it be that he was involved in that blasted 'Lucifer Project'?

I didn't want to believe that, not now that I was starting to like him. But… WHAT IF? I would not go back to that life (if you could call it life) in the dungeons!

My shaking stopped and my muscles tensed, ready to get into action. Maybe it would be better for me to just take off. I was certainly faster than the carriage and the woods would make it very easy for me to disappear from Undertaker's sig-

"Don't worry, Eli~za." Undertaker purred, turning his amused face to me. "I promise you I won't hand you over to 'Lucifer'. You don't need to run away~."

I turned my wide eyes to the mortician. Really; how did he do that? Knowing what I'm thinking without even looking at me. It was so unsettling. And a bit annoying too…

Still, strange as it may seem, his words did reassure me.

"Thank you, Undertaker." I said with a small smile. "And sorry for doubting you."

"It's oka~y." He sang. "I'm used to your distrust already~."

I don't know if it was his intention or not, but his words hit me like a slap on the face and I couldn't help but frown. The mortician was right: I had never given him a true vow of trust. I've been living with him for almost a month now and the only time I had 'trusted' him was when he said I wouldn't need to steal Madam Lewis' medallion and, even then, I didn't quite believe him.

Maybe… I could trust him some things about myself?

…

I could, but did I need to?

…

No, I didn't.

…

…

But… I wanted to…

…

Staring straight ahead, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

"My name is Eliza Davis and I was born in February 26th of 1865 in Wetherby. But I spent most of my life in a castle, serving as a test subject for something called the 'Lucifer Project'. I believe it is sponsored by Marquise Chamberlin. Anyway, this project intended to create people with demoniac abilities. In that castle I met Darrel; he is my best friend and the dearest person in this world to me. We ran away from that place on the beginning of the month. We had to go on our separate ways for now, but we'll meet each other again in a couple of years."

I spoke all of that in one go, as quick as possible so I wouldn't give up midway. Slowly, I turned my eyes to Undertaker. He was staring at me with a stunned expression that made me feel extremely embarrassed. In a blink of an eye, I had shoved the envelope with it content in his hands, raised my knees to my chest and buried my beet-red face in them, replaying in my mind what I had just told the crazy mortician.

…

DID I HAVE TO SAY THAT DARREL IS THE DEAREST PERSON IN THIS WORLD TO ME?! HOW CORNY IS THAT?! STUPID! STUPID! STUPID!

"Hehehehe~." Undertaker chuckled softly and started to pet my head. Honestly, was that going to become a habit of his?

I turned my head a bit to the side to glare at the mortician.

"I'm not a dog, you know?" I complained.

Undertaker paid no attention to my words and just continued petting me. I let out an exasperated sigh but did nothing to remove his hand from my head; I was too tired for that.

I just allowed my eyes to close and my mind to drift away.

* * *

><p>I woke up about an hour later, still in that crouched position I fell asleep in.<p>

"How far are we?" I asked in a low voice, stretching my back until I heard a 'creck' sound. Man, that felt good…

"Halfway there, slee~ping beauty." Undertaker sang; eyes kept on the road. "Slept well?"

"Very much so." I answered with a big smile on my face. "It has been quite a while since I last felt this rested."

And it was true; since Undertaker started to make me help in his dissections I haven't been able to rest properly. By the way, talking about those dissections…

"Undertaker…" I began in a hesitant voice, also staring forward. "Will I have to continue helping you out in those autopsies?"

"Hehehe… You're so slow, Eli~za." He spoke amusedly. "Of course not. You did tell me what I wanted to know about an hour ago, remember~? Or maybe your brain isn't even able to keep up with what you say~."

"I remember that; I am not an idiot." I said through gritted teeth, crossing my arms over my chest and glaring at the grinning mortician. "I just wanted to be sure, alright?"

Then, it seemed that Undertaker's mood had changed to joking to thoughtful. I couldn't be sure though, since he kept grinning like always.

"Actually…" Undertaker began after some moments of silence. "You don't need to help me out anymo~re. Your little debt to me was paid already~, so you are free leave my beautiful~ home."

My eyes widened and my arms dropped to my sides at hearing that. I had completely forgotten that I was working to Undertaker to pay off a debt!

Then my surprise gave place to hesitance, what was really strange. If Undertaker had told me that a few days ago I wouldn't even blink before leaving that cold place. But now? After everything that happened? I… I don't think I wanted to leave him just yet. Undertaker was the closest thing to a friend I had in England and I didn't want to lose him. Even if he was extremely creepy and annoying…

But there was still one more thing I should consider: London was a big city and Chamberlin was recruiting people to look for me. It'd be better if I went to a more isolated place...

Resigned and sad, I pulled my knees back to my chest and hugged them tightly.

"In London there must be lots of people who received that letter, no?" I asked in a whisper and I couldn't help but turn my face away from the mortician.

"Less than you'd thi~nk." Undertaker answered happily, making me turn my eyes back to him. "Lucifer is an extremely discreet organization, Eli~za; even I don't know much about them. They wouldn't risk asking for help from people they aren't completely sure that would be able to keep a secre~t."

I had to furrow by eyebrows at hearing that. An organization? I could swear that Lucifer was a pseudonym of Chamberlin's. Also there was another thing bugging me: how…

"How do you know that?" I asked - and I swear to you it was not out of mistrust! After all, Undertaker did say he wouldn't hand me over to them.

"My business allows me to meet many different kinds of people~." He answered, turning his face from the road to give me one of his creepy grins. "I don't tend to involve myself with them mu~ch, but I am known for being a source of sure information and for knowing how to keep my mouth shut~."

"I see…"

Well, in this case, perhaps I could stay? No… It would be better for me to go to a small town to avoid Chamberlin. But…

"You don't need to worry about being caught, Eli~za." Undertaker reassured me. "Your disguise is quite good; the idea of cross-dressing was an excellent one – your friend's, I'm sure. True, I knew that you were a woman all along-"

"Really?!"

"-but only because I can notice the smallest differences between the male and the female bodies."

"So… it'd be safe for me to stay in London with you?"

"Of course!" He exclaimed happily. "I'd never allow 'Lucifer' to take my biggest source of amusement away~."

Even though there was a smile on my lips, I rolled my eyes at hearing Undertaker's reason. Honestly, what else was I expecting from the crazy mortician.

* * *

><p>My jaw dropped to the ground when we arrived at the mortuary. The place was completely dirty! There were tons of dust and spider-webs everywhere! How did that happened in so little time?! The place was spotless when I left to Madam Lewis' home!<p>

My face must've looked really funny, because the mortician started laughing really hard, making me glare at him.

"How did you manage to get this place so dirty?!"

After scolding Undertaker a little (I don't know why I bothered to do so though, since that only made him laugh harder), I decided that I'd clean up the mortuary in the morning. I was starting to climb up the stairs to go to my room when Undertaker called my name.

"Yes?" I asked, turning around to look at the mortician.

"Here~." He sang, handing me that envelope from before. "You might want to keep this." I furrowed my eyebrows at him. Why would I want to keep that letter?

I chose not to voice my question though, because I just knew that Undertaker wouldn't give me a decent answer and I did not wish to deal with his crazy ramblings at the moment. So, with a shrug of my shoulders and a 'Good night, Undertaker', I went to my room.

In there, I opened the envelope and felt a soft smile stretch across my face. There was no letter in it, only Darrel's photo.

"I knew it: you really are kind, Undertaker."

* * *

><p>The following morning was pretty much like my first one in the mortuary. Meaning that I worked my ass off to clean the place with Undertaker glued to me, making every possible comment or joke to make fun of me.<p>

Too bad for him that I remembered how to do the cleaning and where I should store most of the things. This way, I didn't give him nearly as many laughs as last time.

Undertaker was lying inside one of his coffins, staring at the ceiling with a bored look on his face while I swept the floor with a huge smirk on my face.

Sometimes, I just loved karma.

A few times.

Rare times.

Okay… almost never.

"I think I'll have to change the way I organize things around here." The mortician considered in a low voice, raising himself from the coffin. "This just won't do."

"Change the way you organize things?" I asked with a sarcastic voice. "You don't organize anything around here, Undertaker."

When I received no answer from him, I moved my eyes from the ground I was sweeping to the mortician. He was already up and examining one coffin with glazed eyes.

I dropped my smirk at that; it was weird to see a bored Undertaker. Dropping my gaze back to the ground, I spotted a small, glass container. I remembered that one: Undertaker used it to store eyes and it should be stored in the cold room.

I picked the container up and returned my gaze to the bored mortician.

I couldn't believe I was going to do that…

"Undertaker." I called, making the mortician turn his face to me. "What's this? Where should I put it?"

In a split of a second, that stupid grin of his was back on his lips.

"Don't you remember, Eli~za?" He sang. "My, my, you're so dumb~. I told…"

I felt my eye twitch at hearing his words. Bloody hell, sometimes I was too nice for my own good.

* * *

><p>"Why don't you take a break, Eli~za? It's past noon already."<p>

"Already?" I exclaimed, turning my head to Undertaker, who was trying out another of his coffins. "Bloody hell! I didn't even start preparing the lunch." And by lunch, I meant sandwiches (it was the only think I could cook)

"Hehehe, no need to worry about that~." Undertaker said. "Why don't you go eat out today?"

That said, he all but shoved his right hand to my face with a big bundle of cash in it. I took the money and counted it (what took me longer than I'd wish to admit). As I had thought, it was a lot of money. I dare to say it was enough to buy even Darrel's meal.

"Eh, Undertaker…" I began, looking to him. "That's a lot of money you're giving me. I eat a lot but not that that much, you know?"

"I know~. You can use the rest to buy something for yourself." He answered with a big grin. "A couple of books, perhaps?"

If giving me Darrel's photo hadn't been enough to win me over, that certainly was.

Not wasting anytime, I quickly grabbed a black coach that I had bought with Darrel and went out of the door to make my way towards the bookstore. Lunch be dammed; I wanted books.

I don't know why, but many people gave me strange looks. Well, maybe the fact that I was skipping to the bookstore instead of walking attracted their attention? Who knows? Better yet: who **cares**? I was on my way to buy books! Nothing could ruin my day.

* * *

><p>In the bookstore, I took my sweet time to read the firsts pages of many books before deciding which ones I'd buy. There were so many interesting stories! It was very hard for me to choose just two of them but, after much doubt and hesitance, I settled for 'Alice's adventures in wonderland' and 'Jane Eyre'.<p>

"Thank you, mister." The old cashier said with a smile as he handed me the change. "I hope you enjoy the books."

"I'm sure I will." I said with a big smile, putting the money inside my coach's left pocket. "Until next time."

I walked out of the store, holding one book in each hand so I could stare at their covers. I couldn't wait to start reading them! Which one should I read firs? Alice or Jane? Jane or Alice? Ah… decisions, decis-

THUMP!

My thoughts were put on hold when I felt something collide with the front of my body. Quickly, I put both books underneath my right arm and looked down to see what happened. Before me, sprawled on the ground, was a little street-boy with a mess of curly blonde hair, groaning in pain and mumbling something along the lines of "Fucking bastard is hard as a wall."

"Are you alright?" I asked, offering my left hand to help him up. To my surprise, he slapped it away and glared daggers at me.

"I don't need your fucking help!" He spat out, jumping back on his feet. He really was small; even standing at his full height, he didn't even reach my elbows.

Then, the boy took off. Just like that.

I stood still on my spot for a few seconds, staring at the boy with confused eyes. Why was he so mad at me? He was the one who bumped into me, not the other way around!

"Oh well, no use in dwindling about it." I said to myself. "It's not like I'm going to see him again."

With that in mind, I shoved my left hand in my pocket and started to walk towards a nearby pub to have lunch. I took about ten steps before realizing that something was missing.

"Where's my money?!" I asked myself pulling out my empty pocket.

I quickly walked back those ten steps scanning the ground, but found nothing. There was no way I had dropped it… in the… library…

…

"THAT LITTLE BRAT!"

* * *

><p>It didn't take me long to find that little boy. He was in a dirty, narrow alleyway, sitting by himself with his back on the wall and the money in his hands, trying to count it. Highlight the trying part, by the way. The kid was worse than me in Math and, believe me, that's saying something.<p>

Observing the blond from my sitting place on the rooftop above his head I felt sympathy for him; all alone in that place. It was just wrong… no kid should go through that.

"Ah! Fuck this!" The little boy complained suddenly. "I wasn't born to count shit!"

The little boy raised himself and dusted his far too big clothes off. Before he could take a step forward, I jumped off the roof and landed in front of him.

Out of reflex, the blond raised his gaze to me. His eyes were very big and black, and they were full of shock, fear and anger. Once again, why was he mad at me? I hadn't done anything to him!

Quickly, the boy turned to run back to the streets, but, before he could take a step forward, I grabbed his right shoulder with my left hand (I still had my books beneath my right arm). Slowly, the blonde raised his gaze to me once again, trying to hide his fear behind his anger.

"What do you think you're doing?" I began in a scolding tone. "Stealing from people like that! Have you no shame?" His jaw actually dropped at hearing my words. "There are other ways to get money, you know?"

"Fuck you, pretty boy!" He yelled, pulling free from my grip and intensifying his glare. "How I get money ain't your fucking business!"

"It started to be my business the moment you stole from me!" I replied pointing my finger at him. "And watch your words, kid. You're far too young to be cursing like that!"

"I ain't no kid, you fucker! I'm fifteen already!"

I made no effort to hide my shock, allowing my eyes to widen and my jaw to drop in a way that defied all the anatomy studies made so far. THERE WAS NO WAY THAT LITTLE KID WAS OLDER THAN TWELVE!

My shock seemed to annoy the boy, because I could see a vein that was almost as big as him (actually, that's not saying much…) pulsing on his forehead.

"DON'T LOOK SO FUCKING SHOCK-"

GROOOWL.

… Was that his stomach? It was almost as loud as a thunder.

"It seems someone is hungry." I stated with an amused voice.

"No shit, Sherlock!"

Letting out an exasperated sigh, I grabbed the boy's wrist and started to pull him along. Needless to say, the boy started to complain and pull almost immediately.

"Hey! What you think you doing?! Hey! Let go, you fucker! I SAID LET GO! HELP! MURDER! KIDNAPPPING!-"

Don't kill the kid. Don't kill the kid. Don't kill the kid. Don't kill the kid.

"-RAPE!"

That was it.

"Will you just shut up already?!" I howled, giving the boy a glare that put his to shame. "I'm taking you to lunch, idiot!"

Thank God the little boy kept silent after that.

* * *

><p>The first place we found to have lunch was a bakery and, since we both were quite hungry, we decided that'd do. We bought two filled baguettes each and went to sit at one of the tables. But you won't believe what happened: the place's owner actually asked us to leave! He said that the boy's clothes weren't up to his store's standards!<p>

Arrogant bastard…

Now, you know me; I'm quite the resigned person so I usually just take what people throw at me without complaining much (a really bad trait of mine…), but the disgusted way that man stared at the little boy, as if he was better than him, really made my blood boil. I narrowed my eyes at the owner and stood up to tower over him, ready to give the bastard a piece of my mind when the boy grabbed my sleeve.

"Forget it, pretty boy. Let's just leave this shitty place." The blond said simply. "This shitty place ain't worth my time anyway."

My eyes widened for a millisecond at the boy; I never imagined he could be so… mature. So, giving the owner one last glare, we left the bakery.

* * *

><p>Though the day was very cloudy, it didn't seem it was going to rain so we decided to eat our sandwiches in Hyde Park, sitting beneath one of its many trees. And so we ate our sandwiches in a thick and uncomfortable silence that was begging to be ended.<p>

"Hey kid-"

"I ain't no fucking kid!"

"-what's your name?"

"My name?" The boy echoed, staring up at me with furrowed eyebrows. I nodded my head. "…Lionel."

"Mine is Elliot." I said good-naturedly.

"I didn't fucking ask." He stated simply, raising a challenging eyebrow at me.

I could feel my left eye twitch in irritation; so much for trying to strike up a nice conversation. If only Madam Lewis was here…

"Those books you got…" Lionel spoke quietly, almost hesitantly. "They good?"

I was a little shocked by the fact that the seemingly always angry boy had actually talked to me on his own accord, but was quick to hide it behind a pleased smile.

"I don't really know." I answered with an easy-going voice. "I just read the first few pages, but they seem very interesting. Why? Would you like to borrow one?"

I don't know why, but that question seemed to shock the little boy out of his mind: he was staring at me with wide eyes and mouth agape; incredulity written all over his face.

"Eh…? Are you alright?" I asked, waving my hand in front of his eyes. "Little Lionel?" That did the trick.

"Don't call me that, you fucker!" The blond yelled, slapping my hand away.

"Why not?" I asked with an amused smile. "It suits you. Little Lionel~."

Now I understood with Undertaker teases me so much; it is quite funny to see someone exasperated.

…

Eh… That's our little secret, okay? God only knows how much more the mortician would annoy me if he knew that I thought that.

"Shut the fuck up!" He demanded, jumping on his feet to tower over my sitting form. "I ain't fucking little, you shit!"

Chuckling, I grabbed my books from the ground and stood up as well.

"Are you sure about that?" I asked, looking down at the boy with a playful smile. "Because there's quite a distance between you and me, Little Lionel."

"That's cause you're too fucking tall! You're a freak!" He yelled, stomping away. "And don't fucking call me Little Lionel."

"I'm sorry." I said softly, rushing after him. "I won't call you like that if it bothers you so much."

"Good!"

"But you didn't answer my question. Would you like to borrow one of the books? It's not like I'm going to read both of them at the same time."

"There's no use." The blond answered and I could hear the bitterness and embarrassment in his voice. "I can't fucking read."

"Oh…" Way to go, Elli! Now you made the situation even more awkward than before. You tactless idi-

"Maybe…" Lionel began, but then let his voice trail off.

"What?" I pushed, desperate to try and remand my gaffe. "Maybe what?"

"Nothing!"

"It's not nothing! What were you going to say?"

"Forget it, damn it!"

I halted my movements and grabbed the boy's shoulder, making he look up at me through narrowed eyes.

"Tell me or I'll call you Little Lionel again." I threatened, staring back into his eyes.

The boy gritted his teeth in anger and turned his face to me. His cheeks were as red as tomatoes; out of anger or embarrassment, I don't know.

"It's stupid!" He complained.

"I don't care."

"I don't give a shit if you care or not; I ain't fucking saying it! So just drop it, okay?"

I raised my hands in a surrender gesture. "Alright, alright… You're the boss, L.L." The nickname was out of my mouth before I could stop it and I instantly regretted it for it seemed the boy was about to burst in anger.

Surprisingly, though, his angered expression turned into a confused one. "What did you call me?"

"I-I'm sorry!" I said quickly. "It wasn't intentional! I promise I won't call you L.L. again."

"I have no problem with L.L." The boy said quietly with a small smile in his lips. Confused, I gave him an inquisitive look. "Little Lionel is fucking ridiculous." He explained. "But L.L. is nice. As long as I get to call you B.B."

After that I was even more confused. It made no sense! L.L. stands for Little Lionel, so if one is ridiculous the other is too. And what does B.B. mean?! Elliot Hall has no B in it!

Seeing my confusion and frustration, L.L. (yes, I'm calling him that from now on) just laughed wholeheartedly.

"You act like a fucking child, B.B.! You don't pretend to be all grown-up and classy and shit, you know? I like it!" He affirmed, giving me a couple of slaps in the back. "We'll see each other again!"

With that, L.L. took off, leaving me alone in the middle of Hyde Park with a dumbfounded expression that showed everyone that cared to spare a glance at me how utterly confused I was.

"That was strange." I mumbled to myself, shaking my head a little. "Well, better forget about it and go back to the mortuary; Undertaker must be worried." (ha! Undertaker worried, that was a good one!)

With that, I shoved my free hand in my pocket (remember that I had my books in right one?) and started walking towards the mortuary, thinking about all the cleaning I'd have to do.

I took about ten steps before realizing that something was missing. Again.

…

I don't even have to tell you what, do I?

"THAT LITTLE BRAT!"

* * *

><p>And I met the little brat many times in the following months.<p>

The first few times we met by chance. I'd see him pick-pocketing people on the streets and give him a lecture or he'd see me running some errands for Undertaker and make fun of me for being "Undertaker's puppy", as he so kindly put it. Whichever it was, we'd always end up strolling around Hyde Park to chat for some time.

Soon, it became sort of our meeting place. Every day I could, I'd go to Hyde Park between 2pm and 4pm to meet L.L. Some days he was there and some days he wasn't, but we'd always meet at least three times a week.

You know, when I first me L.L., he really reminded me of Darrel, but, after spending so much time with him, I can tell you that they are nothing alike.

Darrel is strong and a born-leader; he makes people respect and/or fear him without even trying and doesn't care about what others think of him.

L.L. may act like he's tough and everything, but he's actually really soft; it was easy to see that the disgusted and untrusting looks he received from people on the streets really hurt him. He cared a lot about others thought of him; he desperately wanted to be accepted by them.

"You're wonderful, L.L." I told him one day. "Never doubt it." The boy said nothing and just slipped his hand in mine, holding it tight.

* * *

><p>"Come with me, B.B." L.L. said on the third Sunday of September. "I want you to meet some people."<p>

He took me to an old two-store house. Granted, the place wasn't falling to pieces like the mortuary, but still was very old.

"Where are we exactly, L.L.?"

"Home." He answered with a big smile and started pulling me into the building. "Come, come. I want you to meet Will and Big Al."

As I let him pull me around, I couldn't help but chuckle at his excitement. Who was the child now?

Soon, we were in the house's lounge, where a man was comfortably sitting on an armchair, reading the newspaper.

"Hey, Big Al!" L.L. called, getting the man to raise his gaze to us. "This is the Elliot I talked about. And where the fuck is Will?"

"Upstairs." The man answered, giving the boy a warm smile.

"I'll go get him, then!" L.L. said before taking off.

Big Al wasted no time and rose from his chair to greet me with a big and curious smile on his face.

Everything about the man was contradictory. First of all: he was small, not only in height (he was 165cm, at most) but in built as well. Second: while his hair was completely gray, his eyes were that of a young boy - attentive and curious. And thirdly: his hands (and every visible skin for that matter) were rough and full of scars, suggesting a dark past, but his smile was very soft and carefree.

"It's nice to finally meet you, Elliot." The man said raising his hand to greet me. "Lio talks a lot about you."

"All good things, I hope." I said, shaking his hand. "Though, knowing the piece of work, I really doubt it."

The man let out a wholeheartedly laugh. "You do know him quite well." Then, his eyes went from amused to analytical and serious as he stared deeply in my own.

"Something wrong?" I couldn't help but ask nervously, resisting the urge to break the intense eye-contact.

"No, no. All's fine." Big Al said in reassuring tone, going back to his more carefree self. "Just checking you out."

"Checking me out?" I echoed, furrowing my eyebrows in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Just making sure you're a good guy." He explained, leading me to a sofa in the lounge. "I can't have Lio's big brother being a bad example for him now, can I?"

I was about to ask what he was talking about when it hit me: B.B. = big brother! L.L. saw me as his brother! Needless to say, I couldn't help but smile like an idiot at realizing that. It was nice to know he cared about me. Though I'd really prefer if it was big sister instead of brother…

"Well, don't just stand there smiling like an idiot." Big Al said good-naturedly as he plopped himself on one end of the sofa. "Sit down; Will is very shy so Lio'll take some time to get him to come down! We might as well gossip about him for a bit."

I felt a grin stretch across my face at his words and complied immediately, taking a sit on the other end of the sofa.

L.L. took almost a whole hour to return to the lounge so Big Al and I had lots of time to talk about him. Of course, we didn't talk about personal matters of the boy's life; if L.L. wanted me to know something he'd just tell me, if not, I'd not pry. Our chat was more like L.L.'s mannerisms and behavior.

* * *

><p>"I always tell him not to curse so much, but he never listens to me." I complained.<p>

* * *

><p>"He told he was fifteen?! And you believed him?! Ha! Lio's not even twelve yet." Big Al revealed me.<p>

* * *

><p>"So you're the one who taught L.L. to pick-pocket people?!" I asked in disbelief.<p>

"Lio, Will, the twins - Jackie and Jamie – and Harry. All the boys the live here with me." He confirmed.

"Shame on you, Big Al!" I scolded. "Stealing is wrong!"

The man just shrugged his shoulders. "They're all orphans and have to make money somehow. I help them out with a place to stay, but I can't afford the rent here on my own."

"Still, there are other ways to make money!"

"How? Cleaning chimneys or slaving yourself in a factory to earn some change that isn't enough even to buy food?" He said in an acid tone, and I just knew it he was talking about his past. "Pick-pocketing may not be right, but is the easiest way to make money when you're as young as them. And the less risky as well."

I had no arguments.

* * *

><p>"You're a kind guy, Elliot." Big Al said. "No wonder Lio felt comfortable enough around you to almost let slip that he wanted you to read him your books the first time you met."<p>

So that was what he didn't want to tell me… Well I'd just start taking books with me to our meetings in Hyde Park.

* * *

><p>When L.L. finally returned to the lounge, he was dragging a red-head boy. He was as young as L.L., and was staring at me with big blue eyes, full of curiosity and a tinge of fear.<p>

"Hello there." I greeted the boy with a soft smile and a wave. "Will, right? It's nice to meet you. My name is Elliot."

* * *

><p>After that, L.L. started to bring Will to Hyde Park too. Once even Big Al showed up with him. It was really nice spending time with them; I felt like a child again. Before I noticed it, I started to go every other afternoon to see if I'd find them there.<p>

Undertaker never asked me where I'd go to. Actually, he didn't need to, for I'd always come back excited to tell him everything about my day.

"I'm happy you're doing so well, Eli~za." The crazy mortician said once, petting my head. No mocking tone in his voice. "It's ni~ce to see you give value to the things you have."

* * *

><p>"Hey, Undertaker." I began one afternoon as we drank some tea. "I've been thinking-"<p>

"That's rare." The crazy mortician commented with a teasing smile before taking a sip of his tea.

"Oh, be quiet!" I whined and gave the crazy mortician a glare before continuing what I was saying. "Anyway, Iwant to know if you think it'd be alright for me to go on a little trip for a few days. I really want to pay a visit to my family's gra-"

PFFFFT!

I need to ask you something: is it shocking for me to want to go back to the place I was born for a few days? No, right? THEN WHY IN THE SEVEN HELLS DID THE MORTICIAN SPIT HIS TEA ALL OVER MY FACE?!

"You're stupider than I though…" Undertaker breathed out, staring at me in awe.

"You spit your tea at me for no bloody reason and still have the gal to call me stupid…" I said through gritted teeth, glaring at the mortician with bloody murder written in my eyes. "You know, I'm feeling a great urge to punch you in the head, Undertaker."

"Hehehe… A punch in the head is needed, yes. In **your head**, Eli~za." Undertaker said amusedly. "Who knows~? The hit may be enough to fi~nally put it to work."

"What do you mean?" I asked; glare melting in a confused expression. "What's wrong with me wanting to go back to my hometown?"

"Do you ho~nestly believe that Chamberlin has no one watching the place?" Undertaker asked in a condescending tone.

"What does it matter if he has or not?" I began as I walked towards the kitchen to grab a cloth to dry my face. "You said it yourself that no one will recognize me as a woman, let alone as Eliza Davis."

"The watcher might not recognize you, but I doubt he'd forget to mention to our dear Lucifer that an outsider with no local acquaintances showed up only to visit Miss Eliza Davis' family's graves."

I felt my cheeks burn in embarrassment; as always, Undertaker was right and I had made a fool of myself. I would never admit it to him though so, after cleaning myself, I just mumbled a "Whatever" and sat back down, determined to finish my tea in silence.

* * *

><p>Soon, November had ended and Christmas decoration started to make its way around the streets and buildings of London. Even Undertaker tidied up his store! Well, I did actually, but only because he allowed me to.<p>

The city got more beautiful and the people got more open-hearted each day that passed. And the weather got colder too; cold enough to lessen my Christmas' good mood.

"If it isn't my favorite customer!" The bookstore owner, Ted was his name, exclaimed happily as I walked in.

"Good afternoon, Ted." I greeted with a smile as I scanned the decoration of the place. "You did a wonderful job in decorating the place; it's beautiful."

"I'm glad you liked, Mr. E!" Ted said happily. "But the praise of this work of art must go to my grandchildren; they did almost everything. Now, what can I do for you today? Don't tell me you're looking for another book already; you bought one three days ago!"

"Nah, today I'm just getting away from Undertaker." I said, taking a look at one of the shelves. "You don't mind if I stay here a little, right?"

"Of course not!" He answered, walking towards me with an open jar in his hands. I raised an inquisitive eyebrow at him. "Ginger cookies." He explained, raising the jar to me. "My wife made them."

With a thankful smile, I took one cookie from the jar and popped it in my mouth. I couldn't see my face then, but I'm sure that my eyes brightened as that piece of heaven melted in my mouth.

"This is marvelous!" I exclaimed, looking at Ted with wide eyes. I don't know why but suddenly Undertaker came to my mind; I just knew it that the mortician would love the cookies. "You must give me the recipe!"

The owner let a wholeheartedly laugh at that. "Abigail doesn't like sharing her culinary secrets, but I promise I'll try." With that he raised the jar to me again, offering me another cookie.

Giving the man a sheepish and thankful smile, I took the cookie. I hoped that his wife would give me the recipe; I really wanted to make some of these to Undertaker. It'd be a nice surprise for Christmas.

* * *

><p>Thank God, Abigail accepted to share her recipe with me, as long as I didn't reveal the secret to anyone.<p>

But it seemed that wouldn't be the only Christmas miracle of that year.

* * *

><p>"Frost Fair?" I asked, staring at Undertaker with curious eyes and took a small sip from my tea. "What's that?"<p>

"It happens when the Thames freezes over like it's doing now~. Lots of people, like myse~lf, will set their stores on the river on December 22nd~." He explained excitedly. "It has been so long since the last one~. It's truly a miracle we get to have one this year~."

"So… we're going to stay over a frozen river, during ice cold days, to sell coffins a few days close to Christmas?" I asked in disbelief. "And you call me stupid…"

"You're not going to help me then~?" The mortician asked with a sad voice.

"I didn't say that." I answered. "I may think it's stupid but it means something to you, right? Of course I'm going to help you. I just can't assure you I'll be in a good mood all the time."

Well, at least I warned him, right?

* * *

><p><strong>As you can see, next chapter will be very Christmasishy (is that even a word?), so I'll do my best to post it by then. ;)<strong>

**Aaaand, we'll finally have the appearence of others cannon characters! I'm so excited! =D**

**PS: the frost fair happened in the anime, but this story will follow the manga plot, okay? I just really liked the idea and wanted to put it here. XP**


	8. Merry Christmas

**Hello everyone!**

**I did it! I was able to finish this chapter by Christmas! *.* ****Even though I had to rush in writing it a little bit...**

**Anyway, I still hope you all enjoy!**

* * *

><p>"I really can't thank you enough, Undertaker!" I commented happily as I stared out the carriage's window.<p>

"Well, you may cook more of those ginger cookies when we go back home~."

"As many as you'd like!"

Funny how things turn out, no? When the mortician and I shared a carriage a couple of chapters ago, all I wanted to do was kill him, but now I couldn't be happier for being here with him.

My good mood comes from two things. First: it's April already, so the weather isn't really cold anymore. Second: we're going to a place I've been dying to visit for quite some time now.

You what I'm talking about, right? Wetherby! Yep, I'll be able to spend a couple of days back home! And I'll have to admit it: it is all thanks to Undertaker.

Well, let me tell you how everything happened…

You remember that Undertaker and I were in the frost fair, right? Let's go back there then.

* * *

><p>"BE QUIET!" I had ordered in an attempt to shut the mortician up, but he just laughed like crazy.<p>

I did my best to ignore Undertaker's laughter and concentrate on my book, but it was of no use; the man was simply too loud. Releasing a frustrated sigh, I closed my book and fixed a tired gaze on the mortician.

"Why are you laughing still? What did I say that was so funny?"

"Order! - hahaha… You! - hahaha – trying to give an – hahaha – order!" The mortician explained between laughs. "It's like a mouse – hahaha – trying to intimidate a cat. Hahahaha! In a pathetic way, it's almost adorable.."

I felt blood rush to my face in anger and embarrassment. Honestly! The psycho already pets me as if I'm a dog and now he compares me to a mouse?! What am I? His bloody pet?!

Putting my most intimidating pose, I stood up and towered the mortician. "It's not funny." I said in a threatening tone. "So quit it."

Needless to say, my little pose only served to fuel Undertaker's laughter.

"KYAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! You really don't convince!"

Dropping my act, I just shrugged my shoulders, a ghost of a smile on my lips. "Had to try it at least once." Then I bend down over the counter to put my book away. "Since it has failed, I don't believe I'll be able to read anymore today…"

Just then, I heard the door open and two footsteps enter the store.

"Lord Earl Phantomhive! What a deli~ghtful surprise." Undertaker exclaimed, completely recovered from his fit of laughter. "Have you come here for me to take your measurements and make you one of my famous custom-made coffins~?"

"No." The earl replied automatically (and I must say that I was quite shocked to hear a child's voice). "I came to ask abou- Who's that?"

Since the earl was obviously referring to me, I decided it would be better to introduce myself. Quickly putting a smile on my face, I turned to the Earl and his companion. I shouldn't have bothered to put the smile on my face though; it dropped as soon as I laid my eyes on them. Well, more specifically, on the tall man that was besides the young Earl.

For a moment, I could swear I was seeing Kent standing there. That dark-haired man was clad in black like Kent, he was gorgeous like Kent, he had blood-red eyes like Kent and he seemed to be simply perfect like Kent.

He was a demon like Kent.

"What are you waiting for, Elli~?" Undertaker's voice took me away from my trance. "Quit playing statue and come greet the Earl and his butler~." So he was a butler like Kent as well? Interesting… in a disturbing sort of way.

I was so shocked in meeting another demon that I didn't even feel embarrassed for being caught staring at the butler. Instead, I tried (mega highlight on the tried) to put an easy-going smile on my face and walked stiffly towards them.

"You're so pale, Elli~." Undertaker said when I was by his side. "Have you seen a ghost~?" By his amused tone, it was obvious he knew why I was like that. And instead of helping me out, the bastard was teasing me! Suddenly, I felt an immense urge to elbow the mortician in the stomach.

"I'm sorry about that; I just thought you were someone I know." I apologized, looking at the butler with nervous eyes.

"No need to apologize, Mr…?"

"Elliot Hall." I informed, offering him my hand. "And you are?"

"Sebastian Michaelis, the butler of the Phantomhive family." He answered with a warm smile, taking my hand in a firm grip.

As soon as the demon took my hand, I regretted offering it for him to shake. I could feel cold sweat streak down my neck and spine as all of the muscles of my body tensed, as if preparing themselves for a fight. I was sure the butler noticed my uneasiness (actually, I believe everyone in the room did) but he said nothing and just released my hand, never dropping the warm smile from his face.

Quickly I retrieved my hand, **accidentally **hitting the amused mortician on the process.

…

Alright! The hit may not have been accidental, but he deserved it! Enjoying my pain like that; the bastard…

Then I looked down to the Earl, who was staring at me with curious and calculative eyes.

I was really unsure as how to greet the boy. My experience with noblemen was reduced to the short minutes I spent with Chamberlin and (thank God) the Earl didn't seem to be anything like the Marquise.

"Eh… It is an honor to meet you, Earl Fantombife." I said bowing at the waist to the boy.

Then Undertaker went into another fit of laughter.

"FANTOMBIFE! KYAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA~!"

I saw the boy's left eye twitch in annoyance and raised my eyebrows in confusion. But, before I could ask what was going on, I felt a dark aura grow besides me. Quickly, I pushed the boy behind me and turned to the butler with narrowed eyes and ready to fight back any attack, but the only thing the demon did was glare at me.

"You seem to be quite a skillful entertainer, Mr. Hall." The demon said in a competitive and – dare I say? – almost jealous tone.

I blinked once. Then twice.

…

A demon was getting worked up because I was good at making Undertaker laugh?

Well, that didn't sound very evil…

And didn't he notice that Undertaker was laughing **at** me, not **with **me? Why would he be jealous of that?

Not for the first time, I couldn't help but ask myself: was I doomed to only meet crazy people?

* * *

><p>After introductions were done and over with - and after I learned how to pronounce 'Phantomhive' (Earl's order by the way) – Undertaker all but threw me out of the store.<p>

"The Earl and I have some things to talk about now~. You come back in two hours, alright Elli~?"

* * *

><p>I was walking around the fair when I heard Undertaker's maniacal laughter. I swear to you, that I felt the ice shake beneath my feet because of it.<p>

"Ah! Miss Elizabeth!" A brunette woman yelled in fear, clinging to a blonde little girl's arm. "T-The ice just shook! What if it breaks?! Oh my God, you must leave to a safer place."

"Calm down, Paula." The little girl said with a reassuring smile. "The ice is very thick." Then the girl jumped a few times, making the brunette tense in fear. "See? It's safe. Now, let's go; there's still a very special present I need to buy."

* * *

><p>Tired of the fair's crowd, I decided to walk up the Thames as I waited for the two hours to pass. As I walked by the river, I couldn't help but think about what happened in Undertaker's store.<p>

Granted, meeting a demon isn't really that shocking when you've already known and accepted their existence, but it's not something to be taken lightly either. And meeting that Mikeli… Micheli… Mikael… Uh! Sebastian! Meeting him made me think about things that I should've considered earlier, as soon as Darrel told me that Kent was a demon.

Where did demons come from? Was it really from hell?

And why exactly do they come here? They don't seem to be here to mislead people from the way of God, as I read in the Bible, and I find it hard to believe that to be someone's butler is some sort of pass-time of theirs…

Also, were more demons here? If so, do they know each other?

…

…!

Oh my God! Could it be that Sebastian and Kent know each other?! Wait… Undertaker wouldn't have let me Phantomhive's butler if it wasn't safe.

At least I hope so…

Talking about Undertaker, does he know that Sebastian is a demon? He sure acted like he didn't, but I find it hard to believe. The mortician is a man with cards up his sleeves, not to mention that he seems to be part of this "supernatural world" himself.

"II will ask him about it when I have the chance." I said to myself.

With that settled, I decided to go to Big Al's and see what L.L. and Will were up to. Their company sure would make the two hours pass by quicker.

* * *

><p>"Wrap your scarf around your neck properly, L.L." I told the blonde as we stood on one of the bridges that crossed the Thames, staring at the frost fair from afar. "It's too cold for you to just let it draped over your shoulders."<p>

"What are you? My fucking mother?" He asked back. "Leave me be; I'm fine like that."

"Whatever you say." Knowing that I wouldn't be able to convince the blonde, I decided to change the subject. "Too bad Will didn't want to come with us."

"Tell me about it! Every fucking winter it's the same shit: he buries himself in his room just 'cause he doesn't like the cold and leaves all the work to me and the others!" (by 'work' he means pick-pocketing) "I really don't know why the fuck Big Al lets him do that! I mean-"

I couldn't help but smile in amusement as L.L. ranted on and on with his complaints.

L.L.'s stopped his monologue when a wind gust came, making us both curl and tighten our coaches around our bodies. The gust was so strong that L.L.'s scarf flew away.

"Fuck!" The boy yelled; draped over the bridges railing in an attempt to reach his scarf.

In a blink of an eye, I had leaped off the bridge and grabbed the piece of clothing. As I started to go down, I realized just how stupid my action was.

THERE WAS A BLOODY FROZEN RIVER BELLOW ME, NOT SOLID GROUND!

Needless to say, I went straight through the ice and into the freezing water. I have to say that I panicked a little bit as the water dragged me down the river, but you understand me, right? I was in an ice-cold river, for God's sake! It felt like there were dozens of knives being craved in my body!

After that short panic-attack, I guess that my survival instincts kicked in, because, without even thinking about what I was doing, I punched the ice above me with enough strength to make my whole arm go through the ice. With my other arm, I kept punching the ice until I made a hole big enough for me to pass by and get out of the river.

"ELLIOT!" I heard L.L. yell from the river's margin. The boy's eyes were wide and brimming with scared tears. "GET THE FUCK OUT OF THERE ALREADY DANMIT!"

It was adorable that the boy was worried about me and, in another situation, I would've given him a bright smile and reassured that I was fine. But, I was freezing to the bones and very annoyed so I just walked towards the boy; teeth chattering and body shaking.

"N-Next t-time, wrap t-the bloody s-scarf a-around your n-neck." I whispered harshly, shoving the soaked scarf in L.L.'s hand as I checked the hours on Big Ben.

There were still 45 minutes left before I had to return to the fair's store; too little time for a normal person to go to the mortuary and change clothes. I'd have to endure the cold.

I just knew it that Undertaker would never let me hear the end of it.

* * *

><p>L.L.'s shock passed pretty quickly. First he scolded me for being reckless. Second, he was amazed and excited because of my skills. Third, he started to make fun of me. Only after all that, he went back to his usual self; he even convinced me to carry his wet scarf.<p>

"Come on, B.B., you're soaked already so what's the problem?"

I gave in quickly, because I could feel a headache start to form in annoyance.

* * *

><p>When I entered Undertaker's store in the fair, there was a moment in silence as the two men and child stared at me with surprised and curious eyes. Of course that it didn't last long though…<p>

"KYAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH A~!"

At that moment, Undertaker's laughter was the most annoying thing in the world for me; it made my grip on the doorknob tighten so much that the metal was crunched by it. I felt my already throbbing head hurt even more.

"What happened, Elli~? Your fish-brain decided it was time to swim? KYAHAHAHA~!"

The last time I felt a killing instinct so intense was because of those robbers in Madam Lewis' home.

"What happened?" The earl asked in a calm voice, ignoring Undertaker's hysterical laughter.

"A… small miscalculation." Euphemisms, you have to love them.

"Small miscalculation?" L.L. echoed from behind me. "There was no fucking calculation to be miscalculated! You just jumped off the bridge and into the Thames!" Tattletales, you have to hate them.

Needless to say, Undertaker's laughter increased at hearing that.

I threw a glare over my shoulder to the amused boy. "Do y-you w-want me to s-strangle you w-with y-your own scarf?"

Soon, L.L. was laughing like the mortician.

I was getting so irritated and tense that the pain in my head started to get almost unbearable and my shaking doubled. I was about to turn around and stomp back to the mortuary when the Earl talked to me again.

"Let me see if I understood everything. You jumped off a bridge, fell into a river covered by an extremely thick layer of ice and got out of it on your own?" The Earl stated, scanning me with his visible, calculating blue eye.

I couldn't help but turn my beet-red face away from him in embarrassment and discomfort. The way he was looking at me was really unsettling; it was as if he had found a new toy to play with.

"Y-Yes." I answered in a meekly voice. "I-I'm sorry f-for s-showing up l-like that but there w-was no t-time for me to c-change if I w-wanted to a-arrive here in t-two hours as U-Undertaker t-told me to."

I swear I could almost see wheels turning inside the young Earl's head. He and his butler exchanged a quick, knowing glance before turning around and walking towards the door.

"Until next time, Undertaker." The boy said over his shoulder. "Elliot Hall."

"F-farewell, E-Earl P-Phantomhive." I replied, bowing at the waist, even though he wasn't looking.

There was something dark about Ciel Phantomhive; of that I had no doubt. For him to get involved with a demon at such a young age… It was as if he had fallen in darkness and, instead of trying to get out of it, he was swimming to reach its depths. But… why? What would make someo-

"Elli~!" / "B.B.!" Undertaker and L.L. called as the mortician shook my shoulders, taking me out of my thoughts.

Just then I noticed that he and L.L. were staring at me with worried eyes. "S-Sorry; did y-you say s-something?"

"Go back to the mortuary to change your clothes, Elli~. You don't seem to be well."

"He's right, B.B. You're shaking pretty bad."

I just nodded my head and walked back to the mortuary.

* * *

><p>I decided to keep a slow pace because my head was about to burst and my whole body was shacking too much for me to move properly.<p>

Maybe my headache wasn't due to irritation after all…

By the time I arrived at the mortuary, I felt really weak and cold. My eyelids were getting heavy and my legs were shacking so bad that they gave out as I was climbing up the stairs.

I rolled down the stairs and ended up flat on my back, staring at the ceiling. It didn't even take a minute for me to pass out.

* * *

><p>The first thing I noticed when I woke up was that I wasn't cold anymore. The second, and strangest, was that the reason I was warm was because I was immersed in hot water. The third was that there were hands taking my shirt off.<p>

Slowly, my eyes fluttered open. Only to see a blurry face floating above mine.

"BLOODY HELL!" I yelled and punched the floating head, making it fly a few feet up the air.

I quickly sat up and looked around in alert, feeling my head throb painfully at the motion.

"What the-?"

I was in the mortuary's bathroom, inside the bathtub, only wearing my underwear and the gauze that was wrapped tightly around my breasts. The blurry figure I had punched was none other than the crazy mortician, who was now sitting on the floor and groaning in pain.

"You sure have a ki~ller right hook, Eli~za."

"I-I'm so sorry-AH!" I apologized and tried to get out of the tub, but a sudden dizziness made me slip and fall back in it, splashing water on the whole floor.

My head throbbed very painfully as I just laid in the tub with my eyes closed, not daring to move again.

"Are you alright, Eli~za?" Undertaker asked and I felt he lay his hand on my forehead. It felt so much colder than usual. "Hmm…you're still burning up."

"What happened, Undertaker?" I asked in a whisper, keeping my eyes closed.

"You were taking too~ long to come back so your little brother got very worried about you. He annoyed me to the point of convincing me to clo~se the fair's store earlier and return here to check up on you~." I couldn't help but feel a pang of guilty at hearing that the he had to close his store earlier because of me.

"You've got no~ idea how scared he was when we found you laying on the floor; body unmoving, skin white as marble and lips purple. Hehehe… for a moment, I didn't know if I should bring you here~ and warm you up or just take you to my dissection ta~ble."

"I'm glad you chose the first one." I said and let out a dry chuckle. Then I cracked an eye open. "Now, what did you do to my clothes, you pervert?"

Before you scold me for calling Undertaker a pervert, I'll have you know that I was just kidding. I knew the mortician was just getting me out of those wet clothes to put some dry ones on me after the hot water warmed me up.

"Wha~t? Just that? No blushing? No stuttering? No threats? Just a plain, boring 'What did you do with my clothes'?" The mortician asked in disappointment. "You've been funnier, Eli~za."

I felt an amused smile stretch across my lips. "When I was in the 'Lucifer Project', there were lots of full-body exams, so I'm used to being naked in front of other people. Not to mention that, as disturbing as it is for me to say this, I doubt that undressing me was any different to you than undressing one of your dead 'guests'."

The mortician just let out a sad sigh and left the bathroom to get me some dry clothes. "Well, at least have the de~cency to fall down again when I come back."

"As if I'd spill even more water on the floor; I know these puddles here will be waiting for me to get better and dry them."

* * *

><p>After I was covered by the many layers of warm clothes that Undertaker had taken to me, I left the bathroom and went down to the kitchen, feeling my head throb at each step I took. Undertaker was in front of the stove, apparently heating some milk.<p>

"What happened to L.L.?" I asked the mortician when I reached the bottom of the stairs.

"After I assured him you'd be alright, your little brother went back ho~me." Undertaker answered, not turning from what he was cooking. "He said he'd come back to check up on you tomo~rrow."

A big smile stretched across my lips at hearing that. "L.L.'s too adorable."

"Just like his cross-dressing brother." Undertaker joked, pouring the milk in a cup and raising it to me. "Though I must say the boy is fa~r clever."

Sticking out my tongue at the mortician, I took the cup form his hands.

Then I took a small sip of the milk. It was very sweet, but it burned my throat a little bit and it wasn't because it was hot. It reminded me of that drink that sailor-like man gave me in the pub.

"Is there rum in here?" I asked.

"Cognac." Undertaker told me. "And lo~ts of honey." Then the mortician started to push me up the stairs and into my room. "Finish this and go to sleep; you'll feel mu~ch better when you wake up."

* * *

><p>And I did, but I don't believe that it was all thanks to Undertaker's drink. I think that the fact that I slept for 19 hours straight helped a bit. It was shocking how much I slept, but what was even more surprising was to wake up with L.L., Will and Undertaker in my room.<p>

"Why is everyone here?" I asked as I sat up, making the three males turn their eyes to me. "Something happened?"

"That crazy fucker happened!" L.L. began loudly, pointing an accusing finger at Undertaker. "I dunno what the fuck he made you drink, but it's past six p.m. already! You slept the whole fucking day, B.B.!"

"We were worried." Will stated quietly from behind the blonde.

I gave the boys a big, reassuring smile. "Well, you can relax now. As you guys can see, I'm perfectly fine."

GROWWWWL.

"Just a bit hungry." I added, scratching the back of my head sheepishly.

At that, Will pulled on L.L.'s sleeve. "The soup."

"That's right! We'll be right back! So you-" He narrowed his eyes at the mortician. "-don't give B.B. your shitty drinks again."

With that, the two boys walked out the room, leaving a very confused me behind.

"They brought some sou~p for you. Compliments of Big Al~." Undertaker explained, walking towards my bed. "They must have gone to warm it u~p."

"WHAT?! They're kids! It's dangerous for them to use the stove!" I was going to rise from the bed, but Undertaker didn't allow it.

"Don't worry, Eli~za. They know what they're doing." He said, pushing me down by my shoulders. "Hehehe, talking about wo~rry, those boys were really concerned about you~. I told them to relax, that you'd wake up soo~n, but they wouldn't listen to me~…"

With that, Undertaker sat on the bed besides me and put his hand on my forehead. As he did that, I was able to get a glimpse of his golden eyes. It was the first time I saw them since Madam Lewis' funeral. Despite his words, Undertaker's eyes showed me that he had been worried too.

"You're still a little hot…" He mumbled to himself.

"Then I'm perfectly well." I said, giving the mortician a reassuring smile in an attempt to make him relax too. "Since you're as cold as your 'guests', being a little hot to you is actually very reassuring."

At hearing that, Undertaker's creepy grin stretched across his lips. "I'm not dumb like you, Elli~. Of cou~rse, I'm saying that you're too hot in comparison to a normal person, silly~."

"Yes, offend the sick person." I said dryly, dropping my smile and narrowing my eyes at him. "That'll help with the recovery."

"The recovery is doing just fi~ne. Your temperature dropped a lot already, you're not as pa~le as a ghost anymore and your body is warm enough to keep you from shacking." Undertaker told me. "Another good night of rest is a~ll you need."

The mortician stood up from the bed and turned to leave the room, but I grabbed his sleeve before he could take a step forward.

"S-Sorry for worrying you and for ruining the fair to you…" I said lowly, dropping my face to hide a blush that did not come from my sickness. "And thank you for taking care of me."

"You're very much welcomed, Elli~." Undertaker purred, petting my head.

"Forgetting about us, B.B.?" L.L. complained as he entered the room carrying a tray with the soup and with Will in his toll.

"Of course not, guys!" I replied, raising my head to give them a big grin. "By the way, L.L., Undertaker told me that if it wasn't for you annoying him to no end, he wouldn't have returned in time to help me. Thank you very much; you saved my life."

The boy blushed at hearing that. "Now, you're just fucking exaggerating."

"Hehehe… What a heart-warming mome~nt." Undertaker sang, earning him a glare from L.L. I guess the boy still wasn't able to tell that the mortician was serious about what he said, not making fun of us.

"Don't you have anything you should be doing?" The blonde asked the mortician. Undertaker's grin just widened at hearing that.

"Actually, I do~. I trust you'll take good ca~re of our dear Elli~, right?"

With that, Undertaker walked out, but not before ruffling L.L. and Will's locks, what earned him a lot of sailor-level string of offenses and curses from the blond.

* * *

><p>Even I suffered because of that little action as L.L. saw it was fit to blame me for the time he was spending with the crazy mortician.<p>

"It is your fucking fault, you know? If you hadn't been so reckless, I wouldn't have been so fucking worried to the point of staying in this shitty place and dealing with that fucker! That guy is crazy as shit! How can you live with him?"

I didn't mind L.L.'s ranting though; I was too happy for having people that worried about me to care about that.

* * *

><p>L.L. and Will spent the night in the mortuary. I don't know how but the three of us actually fit in my bed.<p>

Christmas miracle, perhaps?

Nah, they were just that small.

* * *

><p>Anyway, when I next woke up, it was very early in the morning of Christmas' eve; the sun was just beginning to rise. Deciding I had slept enough for a lifetime, I got up from the bed, very carefully as not to wake the two boys, and went down the stairs.<p>

I expected to find Undertaker downstairs, but the mortician was nowhere in sight. And I even checked inside all the coffins. It was strange, for the mortician was usually up by his time.

"Maybe he went somewhere?" I said to myself before grinning widely.

It was perfect! Since Undertaker wasn't in the mortuary, I could make those ginger cookies without him knowing it and surprise him on Christmas!

"Well, let's get started!"

Undertaker may say I'm stupid and everything but, if there is something I'm good at, it is following orders. And, since I just had to follow the recipe, my ginger cookies were cooked to perfection.

* * *

><p>"Morning, B.B." L.L. said loudly as he and Will walked down the stairs.<p>

"Good morning." Will greeted too, in a much lower voice.

"Good morning, guys!" I replied in a cheery voice, walking towards them with a plate full of cookies in my hands. "You came in perfect time! I just finished baking obscene amounts of ginger cookies and, though I think they're wonderful, I'd still like someone else's opinion about it."

The boys exchanged unsure glances before tentatively grabbing cookies from the plate.

A huge smile broke on my face as I watched their expressions brighten up as they chewed the cookies.

"Very tasty." Will complimented with a soft smile.

"It's fucking great, B.B.!" L.L. exclaimed, seeming to be very shocked at that. "You gonna give some to us, right?"

"Of course! Here, let me put some in a jar for you to take home."

"You know, B.B..." L.L. began, chewing on another cookie. "You clean and you cook around here. Not to mention you're real gentle and softy." Uh-oh… I didn't like where this was going.

"W-What are you getting at, L.L.?"

"You gotta put your act together around here, man! Or else that fucker gonna start treating you like a lady."

I almost sang the hallelujah choir in relief.

"Hahaha… Undertaker wouldn't dare, L.L. Or else he'd be the next one to sleep inside one of his oh-so precious hand-made coffins." I said, giving the boy a wink. "Now, let's go. I'll walk you both back home."

* * *

><p>It was past noon by the time I returned to the mortuary, but Undertaker was till nowhere in sight. I searched for the crazy mortician in every room but his own, since he still didn't allow me in it.<p>

After drying the bathroom (I told those puddles would wait for me, didn't I?) I laid on my bed to read the last book I had bought: 'On the origin of Species', by Charles Darwin.

The book had been a suggestion of Undertaker and, though it was all scientific and everything, it wasn't that hard for me to understand it. Darwin was very didactical and detailed in explaining his studies. But, at that particular time, the details were so much that I fell asleep mid-way. So much for sleeping enough for a life-time, huh?

* * *

><p>"Eli~za! Eli~za!" I heard Undertaker's voice. "Wake up, sleeping beauty~!"<p>

"Ugh, what time is it?" I asked as I sat up, rubbing the sleepiness off my eyes. "And where the hell were you?"

"It's past midnight already~!" The mortician cheered, ignoring my last question. "It is Christmas~!"

I couldn't help but stare at the mortician with amazed eyes. Where did all that excitement come from?

"Merry Christmas, Undertaker." I said, smiling at him. "By the way, I actually have something from you. Follow me."

* * *

><p>Soon, we were sitting at the kitchen's table; Undertaker chewing on one cookie and I watching him with anxious eyes.<p>

"I can't believe this, Eli~za." Undertaker began, staring at me in amazement. "You actually did something right all on your own~! Christmas' miracles do~ happen!"

"Hahaha…" I laughed sardonically, before allowing a relieved smile to stretch across my face. "Still, I'm glad you liked them, Undertaker. I got this recipe thinking on you after all." Was that my imagination, or did Undertaker's grin soften for a whole second?

"Well, I have something for you too, Eli~za." Undertaker sang, raising an envelope for me.

"I just hope it's not another bounty on my head." I said half-jokingly and took the envelope from the mortician's hand. As I read the letter, I felt my eyebrows scrunch in confusion. "For me? This is a job contract for you from the Hornfield fami-"

Then, I suddenly realized something: "Hey! The Hornfields are a rich family from my hometown!"

"I know~, stupid." Undertaker spoke in a very condescending tone. "That's why I'm taking this jo~b. And taking you with me~." At my confused stare, he continued to explain. "This way you'll be able to go to Wetherby without drawing anyone's suspicion~. You'll have to wait until April for us to go there, though~."

At hearing that, my eyes widened in happiness and I just stared at the mortician with a dumbstruck look on my face.

"Hahahahaha~! The look on your face made it more than worth taking this job! Hahahaahaha~!" Undertaker said, petting my head as usual. "Merry Christmas, Eli~za!"

* * *

><p><strong>Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you all spend lots of time with your family and friends, receive and give lots of presents and eat lots of good food! ;)<strong>

**I also wish you all a Happy New Year in advance! =)**

**Also, thank you all for the reviews and favorites/alerts! You all are the best! =D**

**Kisses,**

**RedVoid**


	9. Dream

**Hello guys! Everyone ok?**

**First of all, sorry for not posting anything on January. I had some exmas to ingress a college, then I had to endure an agonizing wait for the results, so I was not in the best writing mood ever. I was able to finish a chapter of Chamberlin's fic, but nothing more... =.=**

**Anyway, the results came and I did pass! So, this year, I'll begin Medical School! *.* Ehh... I know it's not really important for you guys to know about my personal life, but I'm so happy that I just can't help myself. =.= **

**Don't worry, though. The euphoria will wear off soon so next chapter's author's note will be short again. ;)**

**So, yeah... Enjoy!**

* * *

><p>"The woman's womb is missing?" I asked, giving a quick glance at the vacant space in her open abdomen.<p>

"Yes. Curious, no~?" Undertaker confirmed, not looking up from his dissection. "Why would someone kill a woman and take her womb? Such a mistery~. Who knows? Maybe the queen will have her watchdog, the young Ea~rl, investigating the case."

"I see where this is going." I said annoyed. "Let's not talk about this now, okay? It already has brought too much trouble in too little time. Let's leave it to tomorrow." With that, I started to walk towards the cold room's door. I had some ginger cookies to bake.

"Tomorrow, then." Undertaker agreed.

I was about to open the door when the crazy mortician's voice made me halt my movements.

"I'm sorry for punching you."

I turned around and stared at him for some moments before letting a knowing smirk stretch across my face.

"No, you're not." I said amused. "And neither am I."

* * *

><p>Hi there. How are you doing?<p>

What? You didn't understand what we were talking about?

Well, no wonder! After all, the last time we talked was a month ago, in April 2nd, when Undertaker and I were going to Wetherby. Well, I'm sorry for letting you in the dark.

I'll tell you what led to the conversation above, right now.

* * *

><p>It was already dark by the time we arrived to the Hornfield mansion. After I got out of the carriage I couldn't help but stare in awe and nostalgia at the huge building in front of me.<p>

That place sure brought back memories… I remember that sometimes I'd to come over and play the Julia and Patrick, the Hornfield heirs who were about my age at the time. The Hornfields may be very rich, but they weren't snobby nor did they think themselves to good for others. Well, at least not that I remember…

"Don't just stand there, Elli~!" Undertaker called as he started to walk to the entrance. "Let's get inside already. We've made our contra~ctors wait long enough."

I managed to take a hold of the two coffins and followed the mortician, as the carriage coah (Undertaker liked hiring one to business-related trips) went to the stable.

* * *

><p>The family butler greeted and guided us to the living room, where we waited for Mister and Misses Hornfield to show up.<p>

"You never told me…" I began in a whisper. "Who are these two coffins for?"

"Misses Hornfield's parents~." Undertaker sang. "They've been hospitalized for two years already and the doctors believe they'll be gone by the end of this year~."

"That's so sad…" I couldn't help but comment.

"I think it's beautiful~!" The crazy mortician said in a dreamy tone. "Two lovers who spend their lives together will part together as well~! You don't see this very much nowadays. I just wished they'd die in London so I~ could be the one to prepare them… They'd be such wo~nderful guest to have!"

You know how sometimes, after spending much time with someone, you get so used to the person's personality that his/hers strange ways don't impress you anymore?

That was not one of those times.

"You're crazy." I mumbled, staring at Undertaker with incredulous eyes.

Before the mortician had a chance to respond to my words (and, let's be real, mock them), Mister Hornfield entered the room.

"Welcome!" He greeted with a warm smile. "Thank you very much for coming here, Undertaker. We understand the Wetherby is a long way from London, but your coffins are quite famous and I wanted to make sure that my parents-in-law received the best."

"You are too kind, Mister Hornfield." Undertaker said as he shook the man's hand.

"Those are the coffins?" Mister Hronfield asked as he made his way towards them. "Very beautiful, indeed… mahogany wood, gold handles… A splendid job! Just like last time."

"Last time?" I asked.

"Oh, I forgot about you! You're Undertaker's assistant, Elliot Hall, right?" I nodded as the man shook my hand as well. Mister Hornfield was jus as hyperactive as I remembered. "Nice to meet you. As for the last time thing: Undertaker here was the one to make my father's coffin when he died seven years ago. It was such a work-of-art, that my wife and I made question that he'd be the one to make her parents' coffins as well. Oh! But I'm talking to much; you both must be starving and exhausted from the trip. Come to the dinning room, dinner will be served shortly. My wife and mother will be the only ones joining us today. I apologize for my children's absence; they all had compromises with their own families this night so they couldn't come and greet you. Ah! I can't even believe all of my five children are married already! Do you remember them, Undertaker? They were so adorable and-"

* * *

><p>And so, Mister Hornfield continued his monologue as he leaded us to the dining room and throughout the whole dinner. Stopping only to present us to Misses and Madam Hornfield. Interestingly enough, that seemed to please Undertaker immensely for, every time that the land-lord was about to run out of things to talk, the mortician made a comment that fuelled his ranting once again.<p>

Though Misses Hornfield didn't talk much, she seemed to enjoy her husband's ranting just as much as Undertaker and kept a smile on her face during the whole time.

Madam Hornfield, on the other hand, spoke just as much as her son, reminding him of things he'd forgotten to mention or adding comments to what he was talking about.

All in all, it was a very pleasant dinner.

"If you wish, you both are welcomed to spend tomorrow here in our home to rest a little and take the road on the next day." Madam Hornfield said.

"Oh, we will accept your offer, Madam Hornfield." Undertaker answered before turning to me. "Isn't this great, Elli? Now you'll have time to go and see the cemetery's tombstones' architecture as you wanted to."

I wanted to what?

"Really? You like cemeteries?" Mister Hornfield asked, staring at me with surprised eye.

"Well, yes." I answered awkwardly, trying to go with Undertaker's words. "I like walking around them to observe the tombstones."

"Why don't you go with him, mother?" Mister Hornfield continued, turning his gaze to madam Hornfiled. "You helped out in so many burials around here that I'm sure you'll be a wonderful guide to Elliot."

"It's a great idea, son!" Madam Hornfield answered. "It's been so long since I took my time to talk to a newcomer. Would you mind if I accompany you, Elliot?"

I put a smile on my lips and shook my head. "Not at all, Madam. It would be my pleasure."

* * *

><p>And so, on the next morning, Madam Hornfield and I went to take a walk around the cemetery.<p>

I don't even have to tell you how it reminded me of Madam Lewis, right?

Anyway, I'd stop by some graves pretending to be interested about their tombstones, while Madam Hornfield talked about its inhabitants. The old lady sure liked to talk about other people's lives, even though they were already dead.

When we arrived at my family's grave, I had to use every ounce of self-control not to widen my eyes in shock.

There was a massive and beautiful tombstone marking were my parents, uncle and other relatives were resting. I don't remember much from my childhood, but I know our family's grave had been very simple. We lived well, but not enough to pay for such a luxury!

"I knew you'd like this one." Madam Hornfield said besides me. "It really is a master-piece, no?"

"Indeed, it is." I answered, trying oh-so hard to keep my voice nonchalantly. "This family must be very rich to make such an impressive tombstone."

"Oh, no! The Davis were very simple people; this work of art was sponsored by all of the town's folk."

I didn't even try to keep my eyes from widening in shock and confusion this time. Why would they do that for us? Sure, mom and dad had good relations with everyone in town, but to receive such a gift?

"You look understandably confused, Elliot." Madam Hornfield commented and I nodded. "You see, the Davis were very nice and simple, everyone here had some sort of sympathy towards them. Nathaniel and Prudence made one of the most adorable couples of the town. And their daughter, Eliza! She was such a cute little thing! A bit queer-" Come again? "-but a sweet child nonetheless."

"But…?"

"But they were very unlucky too." Unlucky… that's a way to put it. "Nathaniel and Prudence died in a robbery, leaving their child in the care of Robert, Prudence's older brother. And he was such a strange man; never talked to anyone and only left his house to work. Some of us even imagined he was a vampire or some sort of monster. Imagine that! On the beginning all of us - the town's folk, I mean - were worried that he'd mistreat the child, but she was just fine. A little stranger than before-" Really, what was so strange about me? "-but still healthy and happy. Then, a few years later, she simply vanished!"

I felt someone watching us, so I decided to play dumb. "She ran away?"

"No, no! She wouldn't do such a thing! Eliza liked here!" Madam Hornfield said in a way that made me feel as if I was being scolded. "You can ask anyone around; we all are certain that she was kidnapped!"

"Why would someone do such a horrible thing?" I asked in a shocked voice.

It kind of bothered me to act like this… Actually, it bothered me quite a lot, but I had to make sure that the people watching us wouldn't suspect me.

"That's the mystery!" Madam Hornfield exclaimed. "But, believe me, there's no way she'd ran away! I knew her a bit, you know? Sometimes, Eliza would play with my grandchildren. Now, let me tell you one thing: she got attached to people and things very easily. I remember once when she caught a lightning bug and 'took care' of it for three whole months! The little thing had died after the first week, but she insisted on keeping it around and trying to feed the thing! Imagine that!" I didn't have to imagine; I actually remembered that…

As Madam Hornfield laughed good-naturedly at the memory, I had to turn my head to keep my blush out of her and the watchmen's sight. Really! From all the things she could've said, she had to mention such an embarrassing moment of my life?

"What happened to her uncle after that?" I asked, wanting to hear more about uncle. I almost regretted making the question though for Madam Hornfield's eyes went from happy to sad almost instantly.

"Robert… got desperate. He was a very strange man, very quiet and reclusive, but he did care for the girl. Robert did everything he could to find her; and I'm sure he did find something. But I believe that something cost him his life. He was stabbed and dumped at the graveyard's entrance. To this day, no one knows who kidnapped Eliza and killed Robert, but I really think it was the same person."

"So you made this tombstone as a tribute to them?" I asked with a soft and touched smile. "That was extremely kind of you."

"They deserved it." Miss Hornfield said with a smile of her own. "Besides, we really needed to make a reform on their grave."

I raised an eyebrow at hearing that. "Why is that?"

"A few months ago – I believe it was in last year's October – someone dug up their grave and took Nathaniel and Prudence's remains. Can you believe it?! They suffered in live and couldn't even rest in peace! It's an absurd, I tell you!"

I clenched my jaw in anger. Madam Hornfield was right; what they did it was simply an absurd!

No; not they… The culprit had a name and it was Chamberlin. Just who did he think he was to profane my parents' grave?! And for what?! For some sick experiment of his, no doubt!

Just how many families suffered because of that blasted 'Lucifer Project'?

After some minutes of a tense silence, Madam Horfield grabbed my hand and pulled me along.

"Let's not get depressed, yes? Come, there are many others tombstones for you to see."

I swallowed my anger and forced a smile on my lips. I had to remember that I was being watched and couldn't show to be affected for what happened.

* * *

><p>At night, I couldn't help myself; I had to pay another visit to my family's grave. A longer, quieter and more personal visit.<p>

I jumped out my bedroom window and went to the cemetery, keeping myself on the shadows so I wouldn't be noticed.

Of course I wasn't stupid enough to just stay in front of my family's tombstone. Instead, I observed it from above, sitting on a nearby tree's branch. From there, I could also see the light of a gas lamp that was illuminating the cards' game of two men. Undertaker was right; Chamberlin had men watching the place day and night.

I ignored them though. I just sat there and stared at my family's grave, thinking about them, talking to them in my thoughts and crying for losing them. It was sad, but it gave me the feeling of closure I needed.

It also gave me what Darrel tried to but couldn't: an objective in life; a dream.

* * *

><p>On the next morning, Undertaker and I bid farewell to the Hornfields and entered the carriage to return to London.<p>

The first hours of our trip were spent in silence. Not an uncomfortable silence, though, just… solemn. That nightly visit to my family's grave left me in a deep thinking mood and, thankfully, Undertaker just let me be for once.

Only after I had put my thoughts in order did I break the silence. "Undertaker, I've been thinking-"

"Again?!" The mortician exclaimed with that huge, mocking grin on his face. "That's twice in less than a year, Eli~za! Try not to hurt yourself~."

"Keep this up and I'll hurt **you**." I threatened in an annoyed voice before going back to what I was about to say. "So, you remember when I asked about Earl Phantomhive and his butler? It was a few days before new year."

I saw Undertaker's grin falter a bit at that. "Yes, why?"

"You told me that the Earl is some sort of soldier to the Queen; that when something wrong is happening in England, she orders him to deal with it."

"So~?"

"So… That means he goes after people such as Chamberlin, no?" I asked, looking at the mortician with big and hopeful eyes.

At those words, what had remained of Undertaker's usual grin vanished instantly and he let out a disappointed sigh. Instead of answering my question, the mortician just turned his head to stare out at the window.

Eyebrows furrowed in confusion, I stared at the crazy mortician in front of me. What had just happened? What was wrong with my question? Why did he seem so disappointed with me? AND WHY THE HELL DID IT BOTHER ME SO MUCH?

After long, excruciating minutes, Undertaker said something. His voice didn't carry his usual cheery tone though; it was serious and hostile. Just like that time by Madam Lewis' grave… Needless to say, I felt a serious and very awkward talk approaching.

"Why do you care if the Watchdog goes after Chamberlin or not?" Undertaker began, staring at me with such intensity that I felt he was making even my poor soul uncomfortable. "Aren't you happy with your life?"

"I am!" I answered with a very defensive tone. "Why wouldn't I be? I have friends that care about me, a place to live, books to read-"

"Then why do want to seek revenge?"

"Revenge?" I echoed, once again furrowing my eyebrows in confusion. "Who said anything about revenge?"

It was Undertaker's time to look confused as he tilted his head a bit to the side. "If you're asking if there's a chance of the Earl going after people like Chamberlin it's because you want to go after him, right?" I nodded. "What other reason could you have?"

"I don't want revenge…" I began in a meeky voice, lowering my gaze to the carriage's floor. "Bloody hell, I don't even want to kill Chamberlin, I just want to stop him. And anyone who does what he does" With that, I raised my eyes. "I know life isn't fair, but it doesn't have to be unfair to the point where people are robbed of their lives to be someone's guinea-pigs! I just… I don't want other people to suffer in the hands of Chamberlin, or anyone like him...!"

After that little outburst, I couldn't help but blush in embarrassment and turn my face away from Undertaker to look out the window.

"I may have been lucky to get out of that place with Darrel…" I added in a low voice, eyes brimming with tears. "But there were many people who weren't." Like Emma…

Undertaker let out another sigh and moved to sit besides me.

"You are too naïve, Eli~za…" He said, petting my head as usual. "Are you sure you want to involve yourself with that? Your reasons may be innocent, but I assure you that your actions won't be."

"You talk as if I'm a good little kid, but I'm not." I admitted, feeling a bitter smile stretch across my lips. "I've killed lots of people already. I don't mind killing a couple of more, if it'll save the lives of hundreds of others. I'm already tainted, Undertaker; it's a sacrifice I can make. And I will."

"I can see you've made up your mind already." Undertaker said as he returned to his original seat, in front of me.

"Are you… disappointed with me?" I couldn't help but ask, turning my teary eyes to the mortician.

Undertaker seemed surprised for a second, before grinning widely at me.

"Of course no~t!" He answered in his usual cheery, sing-song voice. "You're doing what you believe it is right. It's stupid and naïve and it'll probably give you lo~ts of pain, but you're doing it for the right reasons."

"Thanks for the encouragement." I said sarcastically.

"Well, it's the truth~." The crazy mortician said shrugging his shoulders.

We spend some minutes in an awkward silence, before he spoke again.

"If you rea~lly want to help the Earl, I suggest you become one of his trustworthy employees. Just like his butler~!"

I couldn't help but groan at hearing that; I had forgotten about the demon.

"I guess you're right." I agreed. "The question is: how will I do that?"

Undertaker gave me another of his usual creepy grins. "Leave it a~ll to me."

Whatever it was he was going to do, I felt I wasn't going to like it one bit.

* * *

><p>A month later, Undertaker proved me right.<p>

Undertaker had asked me to retrieve some chemicals he had ordered. Nothing out of the ordinary; except for the fact that the pharmacy from where he had bought the chemicals was different from the other times.

I had just set foot out of the store with the products in hand when something, someone actually, caught my eye. Across the street, the Earl Phantomhive and his butler were leaving what seemed to be a cane store. Both of them saw me.

I had decided to risk a wave at their way but stopped myself mid-motion because I noticed a small, blond boy running straight towards the young Earl. Needless to say, that someone was L.L. and he had all the intentions of the world to pick-pocket the eye-patch wearing boy.

You know, when I see L.L. pick-pocketing someone I give him lectures and everything, but I never interrupt his 'job'. But this time was different. He was about to pick-pocket someone whose butler was a demon, for God's sake! Who knows what'd happen to him!?

In a blink of an eye I had crossed the street, grabbed L.L.'s shoulder and pushed him behind me as I smiled nervously at the Earl and his butler.

"Eh… Good afternoon, Earl Phantomhive and Mister Sebastian."

There were some seconds of stunned silence before the young Earl answered me with that stoic and aristocratic voice he seemed so keen of using.

"Good afternoon, Elliot. Never imagined I'd find you around here."

"Undertaker wanted me to get some chemicals for him." I said, raising the bag with the products for him to see. "Which reminds me that I should return to the mortuary quickly before they go bad." I didn't even know if those chemical could go bad. "So… good bye!"

With that, I slid my hand from L.L.'s shoulder to his hand and started to pull him along as fast as I could. Unfortunately, I wasn't quick enough to escape the Earl's next words.

"And who is that one?"

Holding back a exasperated sigh, I looked down at L.L., who stared at me with confused and expectant eyes, and back to the Earl, who had a somewhat taunting look on his face. Seeing no other way, I decided to walk back to the noble and do the introductions.

"This is Lionel. He's sort of my little brother. Lionel, these are the Earl Phantomhive and his butler Sebastian Mik- Sebastian." I said quickly. "Now that we finished with the formalities, let's go."

Only then the Earl let me pull L.L. away from him and his demon.

* * *

><p>I ran away (let's face it; it's the best way to describe what I did) from the Earl and his demon as fast as L.L.'s small legs allowed me to. The poor boy even had to jog to keep up with my longer strides.<p>

Only when there was a good distance between us did I gradually slow down until a complete stop.

"What the fuck is up with you, B.B.?" L.L. demanded. "I almost had that fucker's ring!"

"You wouldn't be able to take it, L.L." I said simply. "That butler is dangerous and very strong and fast, so don't ever try to steal from the Earl again."

"…How fast is he?" The blond asked skeptically.

"Faster than me I think." I answered, shrugging my shoulders.

L.L.'s eyes widened and his voice got a little higher. "No fucking way! No one is faster than you! I mean, did you see how quickly you crossed that street? I didn't. And you know why? Because you were too fucking fast for me too see you!"

"Still, that de- butler most likely is faster AND stronger than me." I said, feeling an amused smile stretch across his lips. "Thanks for the vow of trust though. Now come, I'll walk you back home."

* * *

><p>As we walked, I couldn't help but ask:<p>

"Tell me something L.L: why did you try to steal the Earl's ring? You usually go for wallets."

"It was for you."

"For me?!"

"Yeah, that crazy fucker told me you wanted that ring, so I decided to try and get it to you."

"Undertaker said that?" I asked in a shock.

"Yep." L.L. answered nonchalantly. "He even mentioned the guy's appointment at the canes' shop. Sure, the crazy shit didn't tell me to steal it, but he sure hinted at it."

"Did he now?" I said trough gritted teeth, shock completely replaced by anger.

* * *

><p>"UNDERTAKER!" I howled as I slammed the mortuary's front door opened.<p>

"I'm in the cold roo~m."

Quickly I stamped into the room and found the mortician dissecting a woman's corpse. He was quick to raise his grinning face to me.

"What a pleasant surpri~se! You coming her on your own~ free will! Did y-"

We will never know what he was going to say, because my right fist made a bee-line towards his face, making him fly onto the table full of surgical instruments.

"WHAT' THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" I demanded, grabbing him by the collar of his coat. "WHY DID YOU PUT L.L. TO ROB PHANTOMHIVE?! HAD I NOT BEEN THERE TO PREVENT IT, THAT DEMON WOULD'VE KILLED HIM!"

"But you were there~, weren't you?" Undertaker asked, never dropping the grin. "And I'm sure you did some of your fancy~ tricks to help your little brother. And I'm sure that the Earl~ put that together with your mentioned stunt at the la~ke and came to the conclusion that you just might be a ve~ry useful servant."

With that said, Undertaker did something I never imagined he would: he punched me back. And it wasn't a 'bar-fight' kind of punch, it was more like a 'pray-that-your-head-didn't-turn-180-degrees' punch. Needles to say, that punch sent me flying out of the cold room and into the kitchen.

Speechless, I kept on the ground, watching the mortician stand up with wide eyes.

"So~, instead of punching me, you should be baking me those ginger cookies as a sign of your gratitude for me helping you~ out."

Those words made my shock disappear and my anger to return.

"Thank you?! Ha! Don't make me laugh!" I yelled as I jumped to my feet. "I don't care if it helped me or not! YOU PUT L.L. IN DANGER!"

"I'm not an idiot like you, Eli~za." The mortician sang, turning his back to me and resuming his dissection. "Why do you think I sent you to a different pharmacy this time? Everything was planned for you~ to intervene. L.L. was **never **in danger."

I opened my mouth to retort but found I had nothing to say; Undertaker's logic did make sense. Bloody hell…

"Still… I don't like what you did!" I complained, walking back to the cold room to put the surgical instruments back to their places. Don't get me wrong; the place still gives me the creeps, but I was the one who made the mess so it was only fair for me to clean up. Right?

"And do you think that the Earl~ will concern himself with what you like or don't?" The mortician asked in a bored voice. "If you wish to be part of the Earl's schemes, you will need to do ma~ny things you don't like. Now, pass me a pair of forceps, yes~?"

Letting out a resigned sigh, I grabbed the thing and walked to stand by Undertaker and hand it to him. As I did so, my eyes stared at the woman's open abdomen and I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion.

"Undertaker, there's something missing."

"You noticed!" The mortician beamed in a shocked but very excited voice. "I'm so proud of you, Eli~za! Maybe you're not a lost cause after all~."

"Whatever." I grumbled, annoyed at his surprise. "I noticed something is missing, but I don't what what it is."

"It's the womb."

* * *

><p><strong>And we have finally arrived at the cannon timeline! (makes dance of victory)<strong>

**It took us a whole year to set everything up, but we did it! And now the next chapter will be about Jack Reaper! *.***

**Anyway, tell me what you guys think of the chapter, or charcters, or plot, or older chapters or... well, anything. =)**

**Kisses**

**RedVoid**


	10. Jack the Ripper, part I

**Hello guys! First of all, I wish a happy Easter to eveyone! Diets be danmed; I hope you all enjoy lots of chocolate in this holiday. ;)**

**And, to celebrate Easter, I made a drawing with Eliza, L.L. And Will. It's on my deviantart account: cy5000 .deviantart .com (remove spaces). **

**There is another one of Elli and Sebastian shaking hands in the frost fair, if anyone is interested. :)**

**Next, I wish to reinforce my request for feedback about the story and the characters, specially now that I'm officially swimming in cannon waters. XD **

**If you're not comfortable with writing a review, feel free to PM me.**

**Guess this is it... So much for a short AN, huh?**

**Still, hope you enjoy the chapter! :D**

* * *

><p>Hello you all. Before I tell more of my story, I have something to ask of you: allow me to do things different today, yes?<p>

I know it has been quite sometime since we last talked and that you must be curious as to where I am right now, but today I'm not going to give some senteces and discriptions of my current situation as I normally do. Instead, I'll just go straight to the point I left you last time.

I strongly believe that this will make it easier for me to tell my story and for you to understand it. So, please, bear with me.

That said, let's go back to the moment I left Undertaker in that cold room of his to bake him some cookies.

God... that phrase is just too lame.

* * *

><p>After I left that room I felt sick. Really, really sick.<p>

I thought that, just maybe, I had gotten used to being close to people's dead bodies. I mean, come on! I stared at that woman's open corpses for about two minutes and nothing had happened! I had felt just fine!

But then, not three seconds after I closed that room's door, I fell on my knees and vomited on the kitchen floor.

"Bloody hell…" I complained under my breath. "Now I'll have to clean this before starting on the cookies."

I managed to finish the cookies without throwing up again, but the nausea accompanied me through the whole process. The image of that woman's open belly was imprinted in my mind.

* * *

><p>"Undertaker…" I called as the mortician left the cold room. "Why do you think the murderer took the woman's womb?"<p>

I swear I could almost feel the mortician's eyes widen beneath his gray hair. "And why do you care~?"

"Just answer the bloody question." I said, narrowing my eyes in annoyance.

"Well, I can't answer a bloody answer can I~?" The crazy mortician asked in an amused, sing-song voice as he reached for one of the ginger cookies.

"God damn it! Und-"

"Calm down, Eli~za. It was just a little joke." He said with a frown on his face. "Now as to your question… There are many reasons for someone to take another's organ-" I honestly could not think of one. "-but, in this case, I think it was some sort of revenge."

"Revenge?"

"Yes~. The cuts, though very precise and well-made, were deep and angry. The murderer must've strongly thought that our little guest deserved lose her precious womb and die. Maybe he didn't think her worthy of being a full woman?"

"What do you mean?"

"What is the beauty of being a woman Eli~za?" Undertaker asked rhetorically. "It's not de delicate curves, the flush lips or the sweet face. It's the ability to bring life to this world~!"

"And what does it have to do with revenge?"

The mortician shrugged his shoulders. "Only~ the murderer can tell you that."

"Do you…" I paused for a second, biting my lower lip. "Do you think he'll strike again?"

"I believe so, yes. The expression 'one of a kind' it's a lie, Eli~za. The murderer killed that prostitute because she did something~ that made her unworthy of being a woman, and I'm certain she wasn't the only one~."

* * *

><p>Just as Undertaker had predicted, the next body came. And with it, came an urge to catch that 'Jack the Ripper'; that man who killed women just because he thought it was right. He was just like Chamberlin in a way…<p>

Anyway, I had even started to wander around London at night, but it did me no good; I never found anything that could lead me to the killer.

"Guess I'm not fit to this on my own." I admitted to myself after another night of failure. "I'll have to wait for someone who is to step up then… Bloody hell."

* * *

><p>It was a simple afternoon of mid-May when I knew that someone fit had started to look into things.<p>

I was in the front room, sitting on one of Undertaker's coffins, completely absorbed in my new book: 'Pride and Prejudice'. Undertaker was on the back of the place; doing only God knows what in that cold room of his.

Then he stormed out of there in such a hurry that'd put the White Rabbit from '_Alice's_ Adventures in Wonderland' to shame.

I'll admit that he startled me somewhat, besides confusing me to no end. But, before I had the chance to ask why the rush, the crazy mortician had entered one of his coffins that was standing by the wall.

I blinked once, then twice.

"I truly am doomed to meet only crazy people…" I muttered to myself, returning to my book.

I couldn't read for long though.

Guess who knocked on the mortuary's door a few moments later? Exactly; the Earl Phantomhive himself. I just knew that the young lord's coming was the reason for Undertaker's mad-dash into one of his coffins. Just… how did he know the boy was about to walk in?

Talking about the boy, he was accompanied by his butler, a woman and other two men.

From the strangers (for me at least), the first one I really noticed was the woman, for she was dressed all in a rich scarlet color. But, somehow, it looked elegant on her instead of exaggerated as I believe it would on most people. Then, my eyes drifted to one of the men; his clothes and face were very different - exotic if you will (a foreigner, no doubt). It was kind of charming, really. The other man… Well… he didn't really make an impression; he was just there.

Despite all of their difference, I was sure they all were thinking the same thing: "What are we doing in this bloody place?"

"Good afternoon, Earl Phantomhive and company." I greeted, putting away the book I was reading and raising myself form the coffin. "Can I help you with anything?"

"Hello, Elliot." The Earl said with a nod. "I came to see Undertaker. Is he here?"

Automatically, I turned my head to the coffin inside which Undertaker was, just as the mortician's voice resonated through the place.

"Hi, hi… I knew… that you would come… Wel~come, Earl…"

There was a moment of silence in which we all stared at Undertaker. Personally, I was kind of exasperated with his childish antics. The Earl and his butler seemed to be incredulous. The other three appeared terrified; in different degrees, yes, but terrified nonetheless.

Then the mortician turned to me. "Elli~, would you-"

"Make tea? Sure." I completed, before turning to the visitors with an easy-going smile. "It'll take just a couple of minutes, please sit down."

As I walked to the kitchen, I could feel everyone's eyes staring at me questioningly. I was about to turn and ask if something was wrong, but Undertaker's next words enlightened me as to why they were confused.

"Why not just sit on top?"

I couldn't help but blush at hearing that. WHY DIDN'T WE HAVE CHAIRS? I should've had provided them since Madam Lewis' visit…

* * *

><p>This time, the Earl allowed me to stay in the room and listen to their talk. It seemed Undertaker was right; the Queen did put the Earl to investigate the prostitutes' murderer.<p>

I couldn't help but ask myself what the hell was wrong with that woman. I know she was my Queen and all she did was for the best of us, english people, but the Earl was just a kid! What kind of person puts such a burden on a child's shoulder? Even more strange was how everyone else in the room thought it was normal to do so…

"I don't want any of the Queen's money!" Undertaker said to the exotic man in a loud voice, taking me from my thoughts. Apparently, they were discussing the price of Undertaker's help.

Then, the crazy mortician turned to the boy. "Now then, Earl~… I only have one requirement… Show me a 'First rate laugh'. If you do, no matter what~ you want to know, I'll tell you~!"

As if already tasting his precious laugh, the crazy mortician began to droll and dropped his head on the counter in what I can only call a delusional bliss.

I groaned and buried my face in my hands, feeling it heat up due to a serious case of secondhand embarrassment.

"Weirdo." I heard the young Earl state.

"You have no idea." I agreed in a low voice.

* * *

><p>After the woman and the exotic man had tried and failed to amuse the crazy mortician, the butler decided it was time to take matters in his own hands and all but threw us out of the mortuary.<p>

"You absolutely must not peek inside." The demon said sparing us one last glance.

I don't know what he did, but Undertaker's laughter shook the mortuary to the point of making its banner fall down. Letting out a sigh, I climbed on one of the coffins that was by the door to put the banner back in its place.

Just then, the butler opened the door for us with a welcoming smile on his lips. "Please, come back in. Let's continue our discussion."

After I finished fixing the banner, I followed the other inside. The butler was still holding the door open, but his smile was more victorious and challenging than welcoming then. He was still sour for me making Undertaker laugh.

Talking about the mortician, he was sprawled on his chair, drooling with a demented smile on his face.

"Whatever you want to know is fine~…"

I went back to the kitchen to make more tea. It would be a long conversation.

* * *

><p>After Undertaker told the young Earl about the dead and womb-less prostitutes in a very disturbingly descriptive way, the boy left with a promise to solve the case.<p>

I was about to rise from my place beside Undertaker to offer my help in the case, but the crazy mortician kept me from doing so by grabbing my wrist discretely.

When everyone was gone, I asked why he had done that.

"You have to wait the Earl come to you, Elli~." The mortician explained in that condescending voice he loved to use on me whenever he had the chance. "He has to believe that you working for him was his idea all alo~ng. If he even suspects that you were plotting to work under him he will ne~ver trust you to be his employee~."

"And why would he think that I'd offer my help just to be hired?" I asked, turning my head to the side to stare at the mortician sitting besides me.

"Wasn't that what you were about to do just now~?"

"Not really…." I answered truthfully. "I truly want to stop this 'Jack the Ripper'. It's hard to ignore the fact that he is killing women just because he wants to."

"Is that so~?" I nodded my head fiercely. "You really want to catch our Jack, huh?"

"Don't call him our Jack! It seems he is our friend or something like that." I scolded. "But yes, I do want to stop him." That's why I've been wandering around at night.

"Well, even if you really just want to get the killer, the watchdog lives in a world of dark schemes with even darker reasons, Eliza." The mortician explained with a cold smile. "He was trained to see second intentions in just everything, even if they don't exist."

Just then, the Earl's final words before his departure came to mind:

"_The world of darkness has the world of darkness' rules. He wouldn't murder random people for no reason. There must be an influence manipulating him from behind. I won't be scared, no matter what tricks the queen's lackeys want to use. I will solve them all."_

That boy… something terrible must've happened to him and it seems he just can't let it go.

"I just hope he doesn't drown in that darkness of his." I thought out-loud. If Undertaker heard me, he didn't say a word.

We spent some minutes of silence then. Me, thinking about the young Earl and Undertaker thinking about… something.

Well, sorry, but Undertaker and Darrel are the full-time mind-readers; I just have occasional glimpses of people's thoughts and only when they are very obvious.

"Well, I guess it won't be this time that I'll get to be hired by the Earl. I'm sure he will solve this by tomorrow." I said good-naturedly in an attempt to lighten the mood. "I'm going to the bookstore now, Undertaker. Is there anything you want me to bring?"

"Not really, no~. Have fun."

* * *

><p>You know, I truly believed that the Earl would catch the assassin in just one day… so you can imagine how shocked I was when, a few days after the nobleman's visit to the mortuary, I saw "JACK THE RIPPER RETURNS" on the headline of the newspaper that was laying on the coffee-table of Big Al's living room.<p>

Why I was there? I was waiting for L.L. and Will to dress so we could go to Hyde Park.

"They sure are taking their time in catching this guy, huh?" Big Al began, obviously disapproving of the Scotland Yard. "To catch a thief or two they are as quick as lightening, but when it comes to a serial-killer they move as slow as a crippled slug"

"I don't think it's their fault." I said, though I couldn't help but smile in amusement at the man's words. "This killer seems to be very careful." He has to be, if the Earl and his DEMON butler didn't catch him yet.

"Whatever. Let's not talk about such gloomy subjects." Big Al settled, waving a hand in front of his face dismissively. "Do you have a curfew today or can you stay for dinner? Jackie, Jamie and Harry have been dying to meet Lio and Will's big brother for weeks now but they're never here during the day. And I'm actually cooking tonight."

I smiled brightly at the man, for the first time truly forgetting about Jack the Ripper. "I'd love to stay for dinner."

* * *

><p>Dinner was great; the food was nice and the company even better. The other boys were older than L.L. and Will (Jack and James were 14 and Henry was 15), but they could be just as childish as them. I attributed that to living under the same roof as Big Al.<p>

And that nice company made me lose track of time and end up leaving the place after midnight, when the sky was pitch-black. I didn't regret though; the lost hours of sleep were worth it and it's not like I can't take care of myself.

So, there I was, walking back to the mortuary and whistling a merry tune when I heard a terrified, high-pitched scream.

I froze on my tracks for a moment before running to its source. 'Jack the Ripper' came back to my mind, bringing along the image of his very first victim and the urge to stop him.

I didn't waste a second in dashing towards the alleyway from where the scream had come from. I halted before going all the way though; just as soon as I saw that someone else was already there.

"Earl Phantomhive…"

Sure enough the young boy was there, being held protectively by his butler. As the boy began to vomit I turned my gaze to the open door in front of them. From it, stepped out that bland man that had visited the mortuary with the Earl, accompanying the woman in red. And he was covered in blood.

"That was rather over the top. It's all over the floor. 'Jack the Ripper'… No, Grell Sutcliff." Sebastian said.

With a desperate look on his face, he tried to explain himself. "N-No, this is… I heard cries and when I got here, it was already…"

Honestly... even I could see he was the murderer.

"Already, huh? We were always right outside the only road. Just how did you manage to get into the same room as the deceased?" The demon spoke in a smooth and malicious voice. "Do you still plan on pretending in the state you're in? Isn't it enough, Mister Grell? No… Even 'Grell Sutcliff' must be a fake, right? Please stop the act. 'Mister Grell'. I must say this is the first time I've encountered a 'human like you'. Didn't you act so convincingly?"

It seemed that the demon's words were a much extended 'Open Sesame', because they made the once bland man grin maliciously with disturbingly sharp teeth.

"Heh. Is that so~?" He said in a sing-song voice that reminded me of Undertaker. "That's correct! I'm an actress~, and a top-rate one at that!"

Wait, WHAT? ACT**RESS?! **Could it be that he was a cross-dressing woman like me?!

"But aren't you the same, 'Sebastian'?" H-She continued, as she put on some make-up with such dexterity that confirmed that he was really a she.

As I observed her put the make-up, I noticed that her eyes were of a pretty golden color, just like Undertaker's.

"This is the name young master gave me. I am 'Sebastian'… at the moment."

"Oh, the role of a faithful dog! Even though a handsome man as a loyal dog is rather nice~…Then allow me to reintroduce myself, Sebastian… No. **Sebby. **I am the butler of the Barnett family, Grell Sutcliff. We're both butlers, so hello~."

With that, she blew Sebastian a kiss, making him shudder in disgust. "It was my first time seeing a demon as a butler, so I was very surprised at first!"

"This… Aren't you the same?" Sebastian asked. "I've lived long enough but I've never heard of 'that kind of person' becoming a butler. You, who should've stayed neutral between God and humans… Death god."

I felt my eyes widen as some puzzle pieces fell into place.

Golden eyes… obsession/passion with death… a very pessimist view of humanity that could've come only from many, many years of observing people's wrong doings… death god…

* * *

><p><em>"What am I then, Elli~?" Undertaker basically demanded with an enormous grin on his face and I could swear I saw his eyes twinkle in anticipation. <em>

_"Death." I answered in a whisper._

_"Hehehe; not exactly..." He commented. "But close enough. I guess you're not as stupid as I first thought, Elli~."_

* * *

><p>Undertaker was a death god. It just… It made so much sense! How could I not see this before?!<p>

"I've been captivated by a woman…" Grell's words brought me back to reality.

…WHAT?! SHE WAS IN LOVE WITH ANOTHER WOMAN?! Is that even legal?! Not to mention that I could swear that she was interested in Sebastian!

The demon didn't seem to be as shocked as me. "That woman is…?"

"You don't really have to ask, do you?"

Steps made me return my gaze to the door, just in time to see the woman in red walking out of it. She was the killer too?! 'Jack the Ripper' was in fact two women?! And me thinking that it was a man all along…

"Sebastian…" The woman in red said with disdain.

It seemed that the young Earl had recovered, for he pushed the butler's hand away from his eye to look intensely at her. "Madam Red."

"My calculations were wrong. Who would've thought that the person to uncover Grell's real identity would be someone by your side, Ciel…?"

"From the beginning, your name was in the list of suspects." Really? He had suspected even of his own aunt? I wouldn't even have considered the possibility of 'Jack the Ripper' being a woman… "However, Madam Red, your alibi was really quite perfect."

"How terrible, Ciel. You would suspect one of your own?"

"As long as there is a possibility, I don't care if that person is a blood relative or a friend."

"_He was trained to see second intentions in just everything, even if they don't exist."_

Ciel Phantomhive… What happened to make you like this?

"The victims of 'Jack the Ripper', apart from being prostitutes and being left with no ovaries, had other thing in common. They were all your patients at the Central Hospital. All of them underwent a certain surgery." With that, the boy took a sheet of paper from his pocket and raised it for Madam Red to see. "The patient list setting out the order when they'd undergo their operating is here. The order in which the victims died corresponds exactly to the patients on your operation list."

I must say I was simply amazed. The young Earl looked every bit as a grown man now. He didn't assume anything about 'Jack the Ripper', he just investigated the murderer's actions and let them guide him. He didn't discard the possibility of the murderer being a man or a member of his family and he didn't see the victims simply as killed prostitutes; he saw them as women who had lives. And it was looking at their lives that let him predict the murderer next victim and find 'Jack the Ripper'.

"The only name left on this list was Maria Gale. I thought if I waited here she would appear. However I… I could not save her."

"How unfortunate." Madam Red began in a sad voice. "My cute nephew… my… sister's son. If you hadn't discovered this we could've still played chess together. However…"

I saw Madam Red's expression change from sad to angry and my body tensed immediately. It was about to begin.

"I'M NOT GOING EASY ON YOU ANYMORE!"

Right on cue, Grell attacked the Earl with a huge, red chain-saw (…from where had THAT come from?). Before I knew it, I jumped from my hiding spot and grabbed the Earl to take him from that thing's way.

"Mister Hall!" The butler exclaimed in surprise, almost not catching Grell's weapon before it reached his face.

As everyone's eyes turned to me, I pressed the boy protectively to my body. The demon didn't waste a second in pushing the death god away from him and running towards me.

"What are you doing here, Mister Hall?"

"I was returning to the mortuary when I heard a scream." I answered, never removing my narrowed eyes from Grell's figure. "I came to check out what was happening." Then I loosened my grip on the boy, allowing him to take a step back. "Are you alright, Earl Phantomhive?"

The boy looked up at me with an incredulous eye and a slight blush on his cheeks. "Elliot… Y-You're a-"

"Well, it seems I'll have another handsome man to play with tonight~. Am I lucky or what?" Grell said with a sharp grin as she laid the chainsaw over her shoulder.

The Earl's shocked expression disappeared quickly as he glared at the red weapon. "What is that?"

"In order to capture souls, all of the death gods have their own tool. This is the first time I'm seeing this sort of thing. It is a death god's scythe." Sebastian explained. "A death god's scythe really is a troublesome thing."

"It doesn't look like a scythe to me…" I couldn't help but comment.

"Of course not! A regular scythe is so old-fashioned, don't you think? The one I'm using was specially made for me. My death god's scythe will play a duet with the soul's last moment!" Then, she winked at us. "Of course, I guarantee it'll be first rate!"

"This is a tool used by us death gods, able to slice through anything!" Then she changed back to her flirtatious self, even blowing Sebastian a kiss. "I really want to do some vigorous exercise with you~!"

"Can you not say such revolting things?" The demon more demanded than asked. "And I'm working to…"

The demon and the death god (goddess?) started what seemed to be a very disturbing exchange of words, but I didn't pay attention to that since the young Earl had begun to talk to me.

"Elliot. No, Elli, I have an offer to you." The boy began in a serious, business-like voice. And why did he call me Elli? "Your skills are very valuable and I'm willing to reward you to use them in my name."

"Are you offering me a job?" I asked, caught completely off guard. From all the places and contexts, I had never imagined to be hired by the young Earl like this.

"I'm offering you a new life. Being a servant of the Phantomhive household is much more than a mere job; it's part of your identity." The Earl raised his eyes to me with such intensity that I felt the hairs at the back of my neck stood up. "Elli, come to my mansion."

I hesitated. For a few seconds I stood in silence, thinking about everyone I met after Darrel and I had parted ways.

Cathy.

_"You are the sweetest boy I've ever met, Elli." Cathy said, giving me a hug. "I hope to see you again."_

Madam Lewis.

_"H-Hello there." Madam Lewis answered in a weak and pained whisper. "I'm glad you b-both are safe. I-I was worried…"_

Big Al.

_"Well, don't just stand there smiling like an idiot." Big Al said good-naturedly as he plopped himself on one end of the sofa. "Sit down; Will is very shy so Lio'll take some time to get him to come down! We might as well gossip about him for a bit."_

Ted.

_"If it isn't my favorite customer!" The bookstore owner exclaimed happily as I walked in_.

Will.

_"We were worried." Will stated quietly from behind the blonde._

L.L.

_"I have no problem with L.L." The boy said quietly with a small smile in his lips. Confused, I gave him an inquisitive look. "Little Lionel is fucking ridiculous." He explained. "But L.L. is nice. As long as I get to call you B.B."_

Undertaker.

"_Don't worry~; we'll take care of my beautiful coffins later. Now come drink tea before it gets as cold as you~."_

_"Hahahaha!" The mortician laughed heartedly, petting my head. "You're truly naïve, Elli~! It's so… likeable"_

_"Hahahahaha~! The look on your face made it more than worth taking this job! Hahahaahaha~!" Undertaker said, petting my head as usual. "Merry Christmas, Eli~za!"_

_"You are too naïve, Eli~za…" He said, petting my head as usual. "Are you sure you want to involve yourself with that? Your reasons may be innocent, but I assure you that your actions won't be."_

Then I thought about the people I met inside the dungeons.

Kent (yes, even him deserves to be mentioned).

_"Milord has better things to worry himself about than a mere butler." He said smiling. "And I happen to enjoy our talks about life and, specially, about literature; it is quite hard to find someone who likes to read as much as I do."_

Emma.

"_Once upon a time…"_

"_Sweet dreams."_

"_I love you, dear."_

All of the people I let be killed just so I could get away with Darrel.

…Darrel

_"No, it's your fucking conscience! Of course someone's here!" The boy shot back. "Ya're a newbie, right? What's your name? Mine is Darrel Basset."_

_"What ya mean ya don't have dreams? Ya can't live without dreams… we have to think something up to ya pursue."_

_"Hehehe, I told ya; ya don't know how to hold a grudge, Elli." Darrel said amusedly, returning the hug._

_"I guess we gonna go on our separate ways, then." Darrel spoke simply, voice almost as low as a whisper, as if he was talking to himself. "I knew ya didn't want to leave England, but I never considered that ya'd have the balls to deny going with me to America. I always thought that I'd be able to get ya to follow me anywhere…"_

_"Yeah…" He grabbed my chin softly and tilted my head up a bit so he could look me in the eyes. "Ya take care, ok? I know ya're kinda soft but don't let people walk over ya or anything. And never ever tell someone your real name, ok?"_

Suddenly, I felt very nauseous. I didn't want to change my current life, but I owed it to my past one.

With a deep breath to calm myself and keep the feeling of nausea at bay, I dropped to one knee.

"It'll be an honor to go to your mansion, Earl Phantomhive."

At hearing that, a look of triumph crossed the Earl's face and he started to remove his eye-patch.

"In the name of Her Majesty and my own wretched name, I command you! CAPTURE THEM!"

Sebastian and I narrowed our eyes at Grell.

"Yes, my lord."

* * *

><p><strong>I had to cut the 'Jack the Ripper' arc in two parts or else it'd get too long.<strong>

****By the way, the murders of Jack the Ripper happened in August, September and November of 1888, not in May as I put it. Sorry, but this historical imprecision will have to stay.****

**I hope it wasn't too boring having to re-read the cannon dialogues. I know that everyone knows what happens and what they say, but I found it important to show things of Eliza's point of view. =.=**

**Talking about Eliza's POV:**

**Biologicaly, GRELL IS A MAN NOT A WOMAN. Eliza just got confused with him. XP**

**Also, about that 'Is it even legal?!' comment: I just tried to represent how Elli would think. You know; dfferent times, different values. **

**Promises of short AN aside, I hope this chapter was good enough. **

**Please, do tell me what you think. :)**


	11. Jack the Ripper, part II

**Hello everyone!**

**First of all: THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE SUPPORT! It made me really, really happy to see how much you all enjoyed the last chapter! I think I've never received so many reviews an fav/alert messages for a chapter! *.***

** Second: I'm really sorry for not posting this earlier. It was not due to laziness, author's block, computer's problems or sickness; I just really lacked the time to write it. Studies, extracurricular activities and (very surprisingly) social life decided it would be cool to knock at my door all at the same time. XP**

**I mean, really, I can still hear them demanding me to let them in. XP**

**Still, I did my best to find time to my writing and here is the new chapter! And it is long! Almost 8000 words! =D**

**I just hope it is as good as you all were expecting… =.=**

**No more delays, enjoy!**

* * *

><p>"Welcome to the Phantomhive manor." Sebastian said to me with a polite smile as I climbed down from the carriage, almost tripping over my own jaw (that had fallen to the ground as soon as I laid eyes on the ENORMOUS and magnificent mansion in front of me). Had I said that the Hornfield mansion was huge? Well, I take it back; it was a toy castle compared to the building in front of me.<p>

"It's practically a fairy tale's castle…" I whispered to myself.

"I assure you that it's nothing close to that." The young Earl put in matter-of-factly. "Don't just stand there, both of you. Sebastian, go find Elli some clothes then go to work. I'm sure Bard, Mey Rin and Finnian left much for you to do. That's right; introduce Elli to everyone else too, before starting the work."

"Yes, my lord." The butler said in a very constricted voice, as if dreading what he was about to find once he walked in.

"No need to despair; you'll have Elli to help you with every chore." The boy added, before smirking up at me. "I'm sure** she** will prove to be good help."

"I'll do my bes- What?!" Wait a minute, had he just called me **she**?

"How did you expect me not to know that after you pressed me so hard to your chest when taking me away from Grell's blow in the alleyway?" The young Earl asked annoyed, with a hint of a blush on his cheeks. "Anyway, I don't care if you are a man or a woman as long as you do your job well. Though I'll need to know why you're pretending to be a man – but we can leave that to tomorrow morning. After you two finish cleaning the manor."

All of it?! But… But… IT WAS SO HUGE!

"I… I…"

"You'll do your best, I know." With that, the young Earl started walking towards the mansion. "Do not delay my afternoon tea."

"I… I…"

"Of course, my lord." Sebastian, every ounce the butler I was expected to become, answered before turning to me with a huge, sadistic grin. "Well, let's begin."

And so I followed the butler into my new home. The one I had earned thanks to helping the young Earl and his butler to put an end to the murders of 'Jack the Ripper'.

It was there that I left you last time, remember? Just after I agreed to follow the young Earl as one of his servants. I know you all knew that I'd end up here in the Phantomhive mannor, but you must be wondering what else happened in the alleyway, no? Well, let's get to it.

* * *

><p>Almost immediately after the words "Yes, my lord" had left my mouth, it started raining. It reminded me of those thugs in Madam Lewis home and I couldn't keep form clenching my jaw in anger; those memories made me feel a great urge to pound someone. In this case, the maniacally-grinning Grell in front of me.<p>

I was about to charge at the woman when Sebastian's voice diverted my attention, making me halt my movements in mid-step and fall face-first on the ground. Confused, I quickly got back on my feet and turned my head to see the butler draping his coach over the boy's shoulders.

"So that your body won't become so cold." The butler explained gently. "When we return to the mansion, I'll prepare some hot milk for you. I'll add honey or brandy to sweeten it."

I truly will never understand how a bloody demon is able to say such adorable things, but I admit I felt the urge to "Awww!" at the scene. The urge died when Grell's annoyed (and annoying) voice made itself known. Again.

"Oya~! I won't let you go so easily." She whined. "Lately, I've only been encountering unsophisticated prey. My scythe and I are unsatisfied." Then, she quickly leaped towards us; chainsaw/scythe/whatever raised and ready to kill.

I made to grab the Earl and pull him out of Grell's way, but the butler beat me to it, quickly pushing the boy to a (relatively) safe distance. The precious milliseconds I wasted watching that almost cost me my neck. The redhead's chainsaw passed too close to my nose for comfort, but I managed to leap a few feet back at the last moment.

"You wish to hunt me? Well, I'd rather be the one to do the hunting, Sebby!" Grell exclaimed in an excited voice, staring at the demon with hungry eyes. "Let us play a wonderful hide-and-seek!"

"I think I have said this before." The demon said in annoyance. "Please, don't say such nauseating things!" With that, Sebastian made a flip back to avoid the weapon.

Still, Grell had her chainsaw so close to the demon that I thought he was done for, but he managed to grab a lamp-post from the street and use it to block the blow.

"You're quite the man, Sebby; I like that about you too~! However-" Have I ever mentioned how I hate 'howevers', 'buts', 'thoughs', etc? Well, I do; they all tend to announce bad things. "-this is the real beginning of the show~!"

And, for me, it was.

Quickly, I shoved my right hand into the ground, took a brick from it and ran towards the struggling duo.

"..the lamp post you have in your hands would be no different from a tr-!"

At that moment, I used the brick as an enhancement to the punch I threw on the side of Grell's face, interrupting her monologue and sending her flying many feet away. I turned to the butler to check if he was okay and felt my eyes widen at what I saw. The demon was fine… but the lamp post he had in his hands was divided in two!

That "scythe" was dangerous; very much so. It cut a METAL bar as if it was-

"-just a tree branch." I finished outloud, staring into Sebastian's surprised eyes with my own wide ones.

"HOW DARE YOU HIT A MAIDEN'S FACE?!" I heard Grell shout, getting me out of my shocked stupor.

But I came to my senses a second too late.

I felt Grell's murderous aura right behind me. Then I felt her scythe slash my back open, from my right shoulder to my left hip. Then, I felt something oozing out of my wound; something that wasn't blood.

Images of dungeons, blood, laboratories and Darrel flashed very quickly before my eyes and, I believe, everyone else's too.

Decided not to let my shock get the better of me again, instead of allowing myself to fall on my knees, I threw my left leg up in the air, hitting Grell's right beneath the jaw. But, this time, I wasn't dumb enough to give my back to the woman on the after-hit.

"YOU BASTARD!" Grell howled, glaring daggers at me. "I don't care how adorable you are anymore! How can you hit a maiden in the face?! TWICE! What kind of man are you?!"

I almost fell face-first on the ground again. For God's sake! We're in the middle of a fight and she worries about her face?!

"I'm sorry?" I offered nonetheless, staring at her with an incredulous expression.

Grell's anger turned to mush at that. "No need to beg like that-" Sorry, who was begging? "-I forgive you!" Then, she blew me a kiss. I watched it hit on my chest and sunk to the floor. "My **teddy-bear**~!"

Now THAT made me shudder in disgust. "TEDDY-WHAT?!"

"Stop playing around, Mister Hall." Sebastian scolded, though I can swear the bastard had a tiny, amused smirk on his face. "I want to go home as soon as possible; there are many chores I have to do yet."

"B-But I wasn't-! Huh! Forget it!" I complained, before turning to glare at Grell again. "Miss Sutcliff! Tell me, what was that thing that your death god's scythe did to me?"

"Oh~, aren't you polite? Miss Sutcliff! I love it!" Grell spoke dreamily, before dropping the charmed girl act and turning to me with a sadistic grin. "That… it's filled with dramatic pain, isn't it? That was the power of the death gods: 'Cinematic Record'. Death gods can use the 'Cinematic Record' to relive the memories of those on the to-die list, for assessment."

I had to furrow my eyebrows at that. "Assessment?"

"What kind of person is he? What kind of life has he led? Should we let him live? Or kill him?" Grell explained, obviously taking great pleasure in that ability of hers. "The general saying that one's life flashes before their eyes just prior to death, that is just the death god replaying the human's memories. A person like this… this person should die. Then we use our scythe to sever the link between memories and soul; this is how we end life."

"I think it's just a terrible interest." Sebastian said and took a step forward, letting the pieces of the lamp post fall on the ground. "And this sort of spying activity… is really the worst."

"No, no!" Grell said in a voice that was almost scolding, reading her chainsaw. "This is work~!" Then she charged at us.

Sebastian and I did our best to dodge her blows, allowing her to push us around. Grell's movements were quick, precise and completely random, but what really got us on the defensive was that death god's scythe. Personally, I didn't want to risk getting cut again and showing everyone more of my memories; I was already unsatisfied enough with the fact they had seen Darrel's face.

"A good man's past makes people curious!" Grell began with a very excited tone as she attacked us from different angles. "But if he's a bad man…" With that, she moved so fast that one would think she had disappeared.

… Only to reappear right behind Sebastian. "Then it makes me want to see it even more!"

At that moment, I had to agree with Undertaker: I am a huge idiot. I don't know what in the world possessed me to protect a demon, but I quickly put myself between him and that wicked, red chainsaw. After my surge of stupidity had put me in that place, there was no going back so I tried, at least, to minimize the damage I was sure to receive and grabbed the weapon's blunt sides.

There was a problem though: Grell was stronger than I was, so, as to avoid getting my head cut in half, I had to let myself be pushed back. When I felt my back hit the wall, I was sure I was done for.

My certainty of death was gone when Sebastian's gloved hands were laid over mine. It was then that I realized that the wall was actually the butler's torso. With my help, Sebastian raised the chainsaw away from my face and into the wall behind us, right above his right shoulder.

So, in the end, Grell had us trapped. Sebastian had his back pressed against the wall and a chainsaw slowly digging into his shoulder's flesh while I was in between the demon and the death goddes, trying my best to help the first to rise the strange weapon.

I was very much uncomfortable in that situation (I can't even imagine how Sebastian must've felt) but, judging by Grell's wicked and excited grin, she was very much pleased with it.

"Kufufufu… It's been boring trying to find humans to play hide-and-seek with me!" The crazy woman began, pushing her chainsaw downwards with even more strength. In response, the demon tightened his hold on the weapon - aka: my hands. I heard my bones crack and couldn't help but let out a groan of pain; that hurt an awful lot.

"I think you just broke my hands." I said through clenched teeth, throwing a glare over my shoulder. "How do you expect me to push that thing away from us now?"

"I don't. My full-strength is better than half of yours with half of mine." The butler explained curtly, never taking his narrowed eyes from Grell's face.

Even though he was right, the chainsaw kept coming down at a torturously slow pace, cutting into his shoulder and getting closer to mine (after all, Sebastian wasn't that taller than me).

"It's no use, Sebby!" Grell all but sang. "Once struck by the death god's scythe, regardless of memories, soul or space. Be it a demon-" Then, she turned her eyes to mine. "-or a teddy-bear, **it'll be sliced**!"

"EVEN IF I TOLD A LITTLE BRAT LIKE YOU, IT WOULD BE NO USE!" Madam Red's angry shout came, making me turn my head from Grell's face to her and the young Earl. "YOU WOULD NEVER UNDERSTAND!"

My eyes practically doubled their size at what I saw. Madam Red had grabbed the boy's throat and raised a knife to him. What the hell was wrong with that woman?! HE WAS HER BLOODY NEPHEW, FOR GOD'S SAKE!

That situation seemed to anger the butler as well for I felt him tense behind me, and his grip on the weapon/my hands tightened to the point I could swear my bones had turned to dust.

"IF YOU HAD NOT BEEN BORN, THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN THE BEST!" For a moment, I thought that the young boy was as good as dead.

Then, I noticed Madam Red's body still for a millisecond. She wasn't going to do I; she wasn't capable of killing him. Still, I had to get her away from the boy. Sebastian thought the same thing and let go of the weapon to stop her, allowing it to slit through his shoulder and nick into mine. But we paid the pain no heed and ran to aid Ciel.

Our ideas of helping were different though. I ran to put myself between the boy and his crazy aunt, while the demon ran to kill her.

At that moment, I have to admit that I felt my body tremble in fear at the sight of Sebastian. It was the first time I felt a killing intent so great. It made Sebastian look evil, murderous and crazy.

It was the first time I really saw the demon in the butler.

"STOP IT! SEBASTIAN!" The young Earl commanded and I felt his hand grab the back of my shirt as he moved to stare at the demon from behind me. "Don't kill her!"

The demon's hand stopped a few inches away from Madam Red's body and I couldn't help but stare at him with wide eyes, full of fear and awe.

…

Was that how I looked when I killed someone? So crazy, so terrifying, so… demoniac?

"Heh! Sebby's endurance is pretty good~. His arm was already useless, but he still went to help that little brat." For the first time since I met the crazy death goddess, I can say I was happy to hear her voice breaking the silence. "Compared to that, what do you have to say for yourself? Madam Red! Kill that little brat already!"

The crimson-clad woman was hugging herself and trembling and, I don't know if it was because of the raindrops falling on her face, it seemed that she was crying too. "Can't…"

"Eh?"

"So I really couldn't do it..." Madam Red began, talking more to herself than anything. "I… can't kill this child…"

"You're saying this **now?** After killing so many women?" Grell complained, laying her scythe on her shoulder. "If you don't kill that little brat, it'll be your turn to be killed!" Madam Red said nothing. "Tch! And you have a death god helping you too!"

"But…" Everyone's eyes were turned to the conflicted woman. "BUT! THIS CHILD IS MY-!"

With no kind of warning whatsoever, Grell ran to our direction and craved her chainsaw in Madam Red's chest.

"How disappointing, Madam Red." The death goddess began in a disgusted tone. "I am no longer interested in an ordinary woman like you."

My eyes widened in incomprehension. How could Grell kill Madam Red like that? Just because she couldn't kill her NEPHEW? I thought the death goddess was in love with her!

Unfortunately, I didn't even had the time to feel enraged at Grell, for my attention was diverted from her once again.

Madam Red's Cinematic Record started to play before my eyes.

* * *

><p>"<em>Ann! Angelina!"<em>

"_Sister."_

* * *

><p><em><strong>I first encountered "that man" when I was 15 years old.<strong>_

* * *

><p>"<em>Rachel, Angelina, come and greet Earl Phantomhive."<em>

"_How do you do?"_

* * *

><p><em><strong>I used to hate my red hair, which was just like my father's. I used to hate red.<strong>_

* * *

><p>"<em>Red really suits you. You should have more confidence in yourself."<em>

* * *

><p><em><strong>I came to love my red hair, which was just like my father's. I came to love red.<strong>_

* * *

><p>"<em>Ah, you're here! Ann, I have some good news to tell you."<em>

* * *

><p>"<em><strong>That man" I loved most was going to marry the sister I loved most.<strong>_

_**If the two people I loved most were going to be happy, then I would be very happy too.**_

_**It should have been this way…**_

* * *

><p>"<em>Ann, you hold him! He is your nephew! When he grows up, you have to play with him!"<em>

"_Okay."_

"_His nose is just like 'that man's."_

* * *

><p><em><strong>I began to hate red again.<strong>_

* * *

><p>"<em>Your husband died at the scene and your organs were damaged. We had to remove your ovaries. In order to save you, we had no choice but to do this…"<em>

* * *

><p>… <em><strong>it should have been like this.<strong>_

* * *

><p>"<em>M-Madam! Please… Please, look over there! The mansion…"<em>

* * *

><p><em><strong>It was the color I hated the most.<strong>_

_**Crimson red.**_

* * *

><p><em><strong>That day, the whole Phantomhive family was murdered by someone. The house was completely destroyed by the fire. The bodies of sister and her husband were in a horrible state.<strong>_

_**There was no sign of their child's body.**_

… _**I had lost everyone that I loved. Everything disappeared to a place I couldn't reach.**_

_**As a survivor, I still have to carry on living.**_

* * *

><p>"<em>It's okay! Work can actually help to distract me. Furthermore, there is an operation scheduled in the afternoon."<em>

* * *

><p><em><strong>However…<strong>_

* * *

><p>"<em>Having a child will only cause problems! I have no wish to raise a child whose father I'm not even sure of. How do you expect me to get customers with a child in toll? Anyway, abortion isn't cheap either…"<em>

* * *

><p><em><strong>I was filled with hatred! They have something which I can never hope to have, no matter how much I desire it…<strong>_

_**The me who lost EVERYTHING!**_

_**What wrongs have I committed?! Why am I the only one cursed with this unfortunate fate?! All I did was…**_

_**Was…**_

_**I hate, I hate, I hate, I hate, I hate, I hate! **_

_**Just like that, I operated on those prostitutes.**_

* * *

><p>"<em>Oh my, oh my. What a complete job you have done. I have been observing you."<em>

"_I completely understand your feelings. It is only right that women like them should die. Like you, I also want a child, but I can't have my wish fulfilled because I'm a man. We actually share the same fate." _

"_Allow me to assist you."_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Several months later, my missing nephew suddenly reappeared.<strong>_

_**With a butler cloaked in black.**_

_**The child is obviously back. But… why isn't "that person" back? **_

_**Ciel, who have inherited the job of "that person" finally came to nab "Jack the Ripper"… **_

_**With the same look and appearance of my sister.**_

_**Sister, what else are you trying to take away from me?**_

_**This time round, I will not give way.**_

* * *

><p>"<em>I WON'T!"<em>

* * *

><p>"I love the way that you are being dyed by the red blood spurting out." Grell said with a displease frown on her - no, <strong>his<strong> face. "Madam Red! I am not interested in the you who got carried away by meaningless emotions. I helped you create alibis… Just for you, I broke the rules of the death gods and helped you kill women not in the death list. You have disappointed me! In the end, you are no different from the ordinary women!" Then, Grell grabbed Madam Red's coat's collar.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?!" I demanded.

"You are not fit to wear red." Grell spoke to himself as he put on the red coat, completely ignoring me. "The curtains of this cheap theatre act of your life falls now. Goodbye, Madam Red!"

I stood there speechless, watching Grell walk away from us. I couldn't grasp the fact that he had killed Madam Red just like that; as if she was nothing more than a fly. Granted, I had no love for the woman, but, after watching her life as if it was my own, I couldn't help but pity her. All of the things she'd done, she'd done because she was overwhelmed with grief and hatred (and, let's face it, no small amount of madness), not just because she could.

In the end, I was wrong; she was not nearly as Chamberlin as I had first thought. I really shouldn't have judged Madam Red before knowing her reasons; it was not… fair of my part.

I stopped my musings when my eyes caught the Earl kneeling besides his aunt to close her eyes.

"Sebastian, Elli, what are you doing?" The boy more demanded than asked. "Like I said, take down 'Jack the Ripper'!" I looked at my hands –they were a mix of purple and black and red, with some fingers bent at an unnatural angle – then at the immense slash on Sebastian's shoulder, then back at the Earl's determined eyes. "It's not over yet! Don't hesitate! Hurry up and finish him."

I just had to smile at that. Even though the demon and I were in somewhat of a disadvantage in comparison to Grell and his wicked chainsaw, the young Earl was completely confident that we would defeat the death god.

The strangest thing? So was I.

"Yes, my lord." I heard the butler say in a most pleased voice.

Grell seemed to like that idea as well. "Hehe, I actually wanted to let you off since I lost my momentum… However, since the three of you want to die so much… I SHALL SEND YOU ALL TO HEAVEN!"

With that, the death god attacked us. I quickly jumped a few feet back to avoid him.

"Heaven?" Sebastian echoed, crouching to avoid the "scythe". Then he also jumped back, landing right in front of me. "I don't have an affinity with that place."

The butler looked at me over his shoulder, moved his eyes to some wooden boxes that were beside us, then returned his gaze to me. Understanding what he intended to do, I nodded my head.

Satisfied, the butler grabbed one of the boxes and threw it towards Grell. Also, at that very moment, Sebastian leaped some feet up in the air while I quickly circled the redhead, stopping just out of the reach his peripheral vision.

As expected, the death god trashed the box with his chainsaw. "I'm in a bad mood right now! I won't go easy on you!"

The words had barely left Grell's lips and Sebastian landed on his "scythe", with a kick ready to be delivered to the death god's head. Unexpectedly, the redhead was able to dodge the blow just in time; obviously desperate to save his face.

"You aimed for my face on purpose!" Grell complained loudly, glaring at Sebastian retreating form. "You're not hu-!"

Following the death god's example of hitting people when they're not expecting it, I ran to him and delivered a powerful kick to his gut, making him fly into pile of wooden boxes and hit the wall behind them.

I felt a satisfied smirk stretch across my face. "What goes around comes around."

Not removing his gaze from Grell's rising form, Sebastian took a few steps forward to stand by me.

"You know what? BOTH of you are not human!" Grell complained (again), pointing an accusing finger to us.

I just raised an amused eyebrow at that, but the demon felt it necessary to give a vocal answer.

"That's right. I am a hell of a butler." I raised a sardonically eyebrow at the demon. Honestly, I never took him for one to do such simple puns.

"Tsk! Do you really think that a demon can beat a god? Not even with the help of his teddy-bear."

"I'm. Not. A. **Teddy**-**bear**!" I burst, kicking (and missing) a rock at the death god's head. "It is ELLI! Get it through that thick skull of yours already!" Grell just gave me a feral, amused grin.

Sebastian himself had an amused smile on his face as he continued. "As you can see, the teddy-bear bites." It was hard to hold myself and not bite **him** at that moment. "Still, I myself have never tried to defeat a death god before, so I shouldn't know."

"However, I do know." The demon resumed, stealing a look at the young Earl. "Since my master wants me to win, I WILL win."

At those words, Grell's grin got a bit darker. "I don't really know exactly what the relationship between you and that brat is, but you two complement each other right? And you-" He said moving his eyes from Sebastian to me. "-are halfway there already, no?"

Of course not! I dream of halfway there. I said nothing though, just smiled tauntingly at him.

"I'm jealous!" The death god concluded at last, resting his eyes on Sebastian again. "However, even if you are a demon, you will perish once you're critically hit by my death scythe!" Grell's feral grin doubled its size. "Aren't you scared?"

I sensed the tension increasing between them and was about to make the first move to restart the fight, but a small but firm grip on my wrist stopped me.

I looked down to see the Earl there, staring up at me with commanding and calculative eyes.

"You've done enough for now, Elli. I want Sebastian to take care of the rest and you to pay close attention to him, especially to what he says." The young lord said. "That's what I will expect of you as a member of my manor."

The boy's tone left no room for arguments, so I allowed my body to relax somewhat. I could just watch and listen; it would be hard not to do anything, but I'd manage it.

* * *

><p>In the end, Sebastian came out on top.<p>

Literally.

"Please, Sebby! I beg you… stop it!" Grell managed to plead, even though Sebastian was stepping on his face.

"I do not want to." The butler answered with a fresh, easy-going smile that, combined with the bloodlust that was coming from him, made him look like a child in a psychotic break-down. Then, he rose the death god's scythe and his smile lost all of its warmth, making him look every bit the demon he is.

"**Stop… Stop it… AHHHHHHHHH!" **

It was strange: part of me wanted to stop the demon. Even stranger: that made me happy, because, a few months back, I would never have it in me to consider not killing Grell. That realization made me feel the most human I had felt in years.

But I didn't have much time to dwell in these thoughts, for a spear shot from the sky, keeping the chainsaw in Sebastian's hands from touching Grell.

"Sorry to interrupt your conversation." The newcomer said in a cold voice before making his spear retreat. "I am William T. Spears -" An appropriated name, though it sounded as much of a pun as Sebastian's 'I'm a hell of a butler'. "- of the 'Dispatch management Division' of the death gods." Then Spears' expression went from cold to disgusted and unsatisfied. "I am here to pick up this death god.

"William! William!" Grell exclaimed excitedly. "You are here to save m-!"

The newcomer did something that made my jaw drop to the ground in shock: he jumped right on top of Grell's head and there he remained, stepping on it with all his might.

"Dispatched member Grell Sutcliff..." Spears began with what seemed a cold voice, but, if you paid close attention to his tone, you could see it was dripping with disapproval and anger. "… you have broken the rules." Then, the newcomer surprised me once again, kicking Grell's head to the left. "Firstly, you have killed people whose names were not on the 'Death List'." Then to the right. "Also, you used your death scythe without permission and even modified it without following proper procedures." And down.

Then, the newcomer grabbed Grell by the hair and proceeded to drag him. "Please, return to the main branch to submit your reflection letter and report."

"Hey! Wait a moment! I was almost killed just now!" Grell complained loudly. Even I could tell it was a stupid decision. "You are so cold and unfeel-"

"Shut up!" The newcomer commanded, slamming the redhead death god on the ground.

Before leaving, Spears turned to Sebastian and gave him a small bow. "This thing have caused you a lot of trouble this time round." Then, the black-haired death god put a small piece of paper in the demon's hand. "Here, this is my name card."

"Really…" And, once again, Spears' voice was filled with disgust and anger. "I actually have to bow down to a creature like you, who only brings harm. But know that, even if you choose to tarnish the death gods' reputation, there must be a limit."

"In that case, keep a close eye on him so as not to trouble a harmful creature like me-" With an amused smirk on his face, the demon gave me a quick glance. "-or teddy-bear."

"IT'S ELLI!" I yelled in frustration, almost attacking the demon myself. "And I'm **not** a harmful creature! I'm a human like everyone else!" That made everyone (even the maimed Grell laying on the ground) give me an unbelieving look. Pouting and blushing, I crossed my arms over my chest and glared down at the ground. "Well… at least originally I was…"

"If you wish to remain as human as you claim to be, I'd advise you to keep away from this creature." Spears said to me in a cold, but polite voice. "Demons use various chances to poke fun of humans… before proceeding to leech whatever comes out of them as a mean of surviving." Adjusting his glasses, Spears turned to Sebastian. "Am I right?"

"I do not dismiss that claim." Sebastian said in a soft, amused voice. "But humans are the ones who cannot reject temptation. When they are plunged into despair likened to hell, they will hold on to anything that may help them escape from the situation they are in; even if it is a mere spider's thread… **No matter what sort of humans they are**."

Had Spears been any less apathic, I can swear that he would huff. Instead, he just spoke with that same cold and monotonous voice of his:

"Because you are a hound in a leash, it seems that you are slightly better than the other untamed, wild ones…" As he said that, the brunette looked at the Earl, making me wonder if he was actually daring to say that the boy was one of these 'untamed hounds'. Then he turned his eyes to me. "You can't say you haven't been warned. Leave them; it'll be better for you."

"I'm the one who decides what is better for me." I spat with narrowed eyes; annoyed with the fact that he was trying to tell me what to do. I couldn't keep that pose for long though and softened my voice and stare. "But thanks anyway. For the concern."

Spears just nodded his head and turned his back to us, resuming to pull the redhead by the hair.

"Alright, let's go back, Grell Sutcliff. Honestly, this is really bothersome - we are already lacking in staff. I wonder if I'll be able to knock off on time today…"

From my peripheral vision, I saw Sebastian tighten his grip on Grell's "scythe".

"What are you d-!"

I felt my eyes widen to an impossible size as the demon threw the weapon at Spears. Defying all anatomic laws, my eyes widened even more when the death god held the weapon without even looking back. AND USING ONLY TWO FINGERS!

The tension in the air became almost tangible.

"You left this behind." Sebastian explained in a honeyed voice.

"….Thank you." Spears replied in a voice that seemed almost annoyed. "In that case, I shall take my leave."

* * *

><p>I couldn't help myself; after Spears had disappeared from my sight, I kicked the butler in the shin, making him drop to one knee and massage the other.<p>

"What is wrong with you?! Did you **want** him to attack us?"

Sebastian glared up at me and was about to reply but stopped himself. Instead, he turned his gaze to the young Earl, who was staring down at his aunt's corpse with glazed eyes.

My eyes followed his and I felt my annoyed expression soften to one of sympathy.

"Lord Phantomhive…" I breathed out as I watched the butler walk towards the boy.

"My apologies, I allowed the other one to escape." Suddenly, I felt like kicking Sebastian once again. The boy's aunt was dead before him and THAT was what he had to say?!

"Forget it." The boy whispered. "It's not… important anymore."

The butler kneeled on the ground and laid a hand on the boy's cheek. "Your body is cold. Let us quickly make our way back to the mansion. As I promised, I will prepare some hot milk for you."

"I guess…"

As the boy stood up, I approached the duo in a slow pace; nervous with the situation. I sped up my steps when I noticed the young Earl's legs tremble and give away.

"Young master!"

"Ciel!"

The butler quickly grabbed the boy to keep him from falling to the ground. But, just as quickly as his hands were laid on the boy, they were slapped away.

"Young mas-"

"There's no need for you to support me." The boy stated. "It's okay; I can standby myself. I just... I feel… a little tired. That's all…"

* * *

><p>When I arrived to the mortuary, all I wanted was a bath and sleep but, to my surprise, Undertaker was awake and waiting for me.<p>

"Eliza!" Undertaker exclaimed as he ran towards me. "Do you have any idea what time it is? Why are you so late? And what happened to your hands and back?!"

The mortician grabbed my arm softly and proceeded to pull me to the cold room and sit me down on one of the operation tables. I watched him retrieve cotton, gauze, some surgical instruments and a few chemicals, all the while complaining how reckless and dumb I was.

As the mortician worked on my hands, I felt a smile stretch across my lips and tears flow out from my eyes. Undertaker was completely crazy, but he was a good man. And he cared for me…

And I was going to leave him.

"Undertaker…" I whispered, making him raise his golden eyes to mine. "I got the job."

* * *

><p>"Come on, L.L. Please, open this door." I pleaded as I knocked on the said thing with my gauze-swathed hands.<p>

"Fuck off, Elliot!" I couldn't help but flinch when L.L. used my '"name" instead of B.B. "And don't fucking call me L.L. no more!"

"I'm begging you, L.L., let's talk about this."

"There no fucking need for us to talk about shit. You're abandoning us; it's that fucking simple."

"I'm not abandoning you." I replied, laying my head on the door. "I may be moving out because I'm getting a new job, but that doesn't mean I won't see you anymore. I prom-"

"You promise what?! That you'll come here every now and then? Fine, you may show up on the first few fucking weeks, but in less than three fucking months you'll forget everything about me!"

L.L.'s voice trembled and failed as he said that. He was crying from the other side of the door… It made me want to tear the thing apart and hug him until he stopped.

"L.L., please…" I was close to tears myself. "I'd never do that; I love you."

Only silence answered me after that.

I was about to sit down and wait until the boy left the room, but Big Al showed up at that moment and pulled me by the arm.

"Let him be for a few hours." The man said as we walked away from the door. "I'm sure he'll come to understand your situation."

Looking back at the door, I nodded my head. "I hope you're right."

* * *

><p>"So, when you're leaving?" Big Al asked as we walked to the mortuary.<p>

"In two days." I answered in lost voice. "The day after the Earl's aunt's funeral."

There was silence after that. It only ended when we were a few feet away from the mortuary's door.

"Don't be mad at Lio because of that." Big Al asked, making me look at him with wide eyes. "He is like that because the same thing happened with his father. He found a better job in a nearby town and, instead of taking his wife and child with him, he just left them."

"Of course I'm not mad! I can understand his sadness." It was extremely hard to part with someone; watching Darrel sail away taught me that. "I just wish he understood that I'd never abandon him; I'm not his father."

Big Al smiled reassuringly at me and laid his hand on my shoulder. "He will."

* * *

><p>"Dig a little more, Elli~."<p>

"I know, I know." I answered annoyed, never stopping my digging. "It's not the first grave I dig for you, Undertaker; I know how deep it is supposed to be."

The crazy mortician just smiled down at me from where he was, standing at the edge of the hole. It seemed that he was about to make one of his snarky comments, but stopped himself when a child's voice came from a few feet in the distance.

"Hey bro…"

"Eh?"

"That place sure is packed out today. Why is that?"

"Dunno."

"Bro… Big bro, you **dunno**? I thought you were meant to be smart…"

"Hey, I'm only twelve so I can't be expected to know everything!"

I allowed tiny smile come to my face at the boy's frustrated answer; it reminded me so much of L.L. He had not talked to me yet.

"Correct." Undertaker said, materializing besides the kids. "It's only na~tural for a child not to understand."

The poor children were trembling in fear now, making me sigh, jump out of the half-dug grave and walk towards them; shovel full of dirty in hand.

Needless to say, I threw the dirty in the crazy mortician.

"Stop scaring the kids." I told him annoyed.

As he dusted his clothes, the mortician pouted at me. "I was not scaring them~." He whined as if he was a little kid himself.

"Really?" I asked, raising one eyebrow at him. "Then why are they trembling like that?"

The mortician looked at the kids then back at me, "Because you~r ugly face frightened them." I felt my eyebrow twitch. "They were just fine when I was here by myse~lf."

"Don't be rid-"

"So, kids, as I was sayi~ng." The mortician cut me off, turning his back to me in order to look down at the frightened (and confused) children. It was hard not to throw more dirty on him. "Today is a particular woman's special ga~la."

"Gala?" The older boy echoed.

"Yeah." Undertaker confirmed, voice acquiring a little bit of that somber tone he rarely used. "The final great ceremony in each human's life. A funeral."

* * *

><p>"Do you think the Earl will take too long to come?" I asked Undertaker as I put down some flowers on Jack's last victim's grave. "Maybe, if I'm really fast, I'll be able to go to L.L.'s home and back before he arrives."<p>

"I don't think you will~." The mortician said, laying his backside on the woman's tombstone. "Look behind you~."

I stood up and turned to see the young Earl and his butler approaching us.

"Undertaker, Elli. Are you done?"

Undertaker was quick to run towards the boy with a cocky smile on his face.

"But, of course." The mortician purred. "As expected, **I **gave her a beautiful little burial. Take a look."

I was so absorbed in my thoughts about L.L. that I didn't even mind Undertaker taking credit for my work.

"The final victim of 'Jack the Ripper'." I heard the butler say in a shocked voice.

"It turns out she was an immigrant." The young Earl spoke in a matter-of-factly tone. "No one came forward to claim the corpse."

Undertaker took those words as an invitation to drape his arms around the boy. "That's why our kind Earl here gave her, a nameless prostitute, her own grave."

"I'm not that kind." The young Earl stated in an annoyed voice.

"What are you talking about?" I asked; eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Of course you are. Weren't for you, this woman would be thrown in a common vale as a bag of trash. You were very kind in paying for her burial."

The Earl stared at me for a second before turning his eyes to the grave in front of him and walking away from Undertaker.

"I… I came to realize why I could not save this woman." The boy began. "On that night, had I made her life my priority, there would have been a number of times for me to save her. However, I did not. I knew there was a chance for me to save her, but I made the capture of 'Jack the Ripper' my priority. I knew that I would let chance slip away. I kept that in mind and I let her die. Even my own relative…"

I was about to protest; to say that he did what he could and that his actions had saved many women's lives, but Undertaker laying his hand on my shoulder kept me from speaking.

"Do you regret it?" Undertaker asked instead, voice not nearly as jokingly as the usual.

The Earl's eyes got so cold that I can swear I felt a chill in the air.

"Of course not. 'Jack the Ripper' is gone; Queen's Victoria melancholy has been put to rest."

It was when I first saw the Earl Undertaker had warned me about. The one who didn't care if I was doing what I thought it was right as long as I obeyed him.

I'll admit it; seeing those eyes made my choice of following this boy waver for a few seconds.

Seeing Emma's face in her last day strengthened my resolution of doing so.

"Victoria, aye?" Undertaker echoed in an unpleased voice. "I'm not a fan~." My eyes widened at that. Why would he say such a thing about our Queen? "She sits herself so high above everyone else… And leaves all the painful, dirty work to the Earl." Ah, so that's why. Well, I can't say I disagree; it is a little (a lot) unsettling to see a child getting involved with such… ugly matters.

"This is a fate my family has always been burdened with. It was passed on to me with this ring."

"The ring seems more like a collar to me." Undertaker said with a malicious grin, draping himself over the boy once again.

The young Earl quickly turned to face the mortician. "The one who decided I would wear this 'collar' around my neck was me!"

Then, Undertaker quickly grabbed the boy's tie, pulling the Earl's wide-eyed face close to his own. Out of reflex, I ran behind the mortician to pull his arms off the boy.

"I hope that, one day, that collar chokes you. Otherwise, it'll be just boring." I heard Undertaker whisper in a voice that dripped with venom, before allowing me to pull him away. "If something else happens drop by the sho~p. For the Earl and his butler my doors are alwa~ys open."

Undertaker walked away from us.

I watched the mortician go with wide eyes; not really understanding what had just happened. Then, I turned my eyes to the demon. It was strange that he had done nothing to avoid that… Did he trust Undertaker that much? If so, he was just stup-

Wait a minute! Was that boy...?

"LL!" I exclaimed and ran when my eyes confirmed that the boy standing many feet away from us was, indeed, Lionel. He was together with Will.

"Hey B.B…" L.L. said in a low, nervous voice when I got close to them. "I… I'm… You… Would you… you know…? I mean... What I'm trying to say... Crap, this is hard! I'm..."

"He's sorry." Will put in softly.

Needless to say, L.L. got as red as a tomato.

"Don't worry." I reassured with a big smile on my face. "I'm just happy it was that simple for me to see you before moving to the Phantomhive mannor. Especially since I would do it before saying a proper 'see you later' to you all."

"See you later, huh?" L.L. echoed with a smile growing on his face.

"Of course!" I answered, ruffling his hair, then Will's. "What were you expecting? Goodbye? You are my little brothers; I could never be apart from you forever!"

I think I saw tears brimming on the boys' eyes but I can't be sure for they quickly ran to me and buried their faces in my belly, giving me a tight hug.

I won't even try to hide it; I let my tears flow free as I hugged them back.

* * *

><p>"I guess this is it, huh?" I asked with a nervous smile.<p>

It was the day after Madam Red's funeral. I was in the mortuary's reception, standing right in front of Undertaker, with my suitcase in hand. Earl Phantomhive's carriage was outside, waiting for me.

"Indeed." Undertaker answered, face devoid of his usual grin.

The tension in the air was thick. Very, very thick.

"I… I never truly thanked you for helping me out." I began, bowing my head to stare at the floor and hide my tears from the man in front of me. "Had it not been for you, I would've never been able to survive London as well as I did. Had it not been for you, I would've never met Madam Lewis, nor L.L. Had it not been for you, I would've never seen my family's grave without getting Chamberlin's attention. H-Had it not been for you… I would not have a dream to pursue. H-H-Had…"

I couldn't help myself; I dropped my suitcase and cried like baby, just like I had done after Madam Lewis' death.

And, just like then, Undertaker held me until I stopped.

"H-Had it not been for y-you…" I continued in a trembling voice, burying my face in the mortician's shoulder. "I-I would never have such a w-wonderful friend as U-Undertaker."

It took a couple of minutes for my tears to stop coming. When they did, I took a step back from the mortician and smile my brightest smile to him.

"Thank you, angel. Or should I say, death god."

Undertaker looked shocked for a millisecond before returning the smile as he looked into my eyes with his unnatural and, at the moment, kind golden ones.

"You're welcome." He spoke softly.

"And don't forget!" I began. "This-

"-is not goodbye." He completed. "It's a see you later."

* * *

><p><strong>So? So? So? How was it? (makes eager puppy's eyes) I know I changed some things in the cannon conversations, but it was all in the order and the manner of speaking; the content was basically the same. =D<strong>

**Also, I always find it very hard to write fight scenes, so any tips and comments will be extremely welcome... XP**

**Hope the chapter was worth the wait! =)**


	12. Mortuary's aftermath

**Well... this chapter comes with a good new and a bad one.**

**The good is that it came in less than two weeks! (cheers!)**

**The bad is that it is quite short... (boo!)**

**The reason for both of this news is that this is the last chapter of 'Living'. **

**Now, before anyone sets out to kill me, I am not putting an end to Elli's story just yet. I just think that, for esthetic and organizational reasons, it will be better for me to continue this fic in a sequel. =)**

**I'll post an AN here to let you all know when I update the sequel's first chapter. **

**Now, do enjoy the epilogue of 'Living'! ;)**

**OBS: this chapter is not in Elli's POV.**

* * *

><p>Not even two days after losing the cross-dressing girl and the mortuary returned to its original state. Dusty, dirty, unorganized. It was very nostalgic to see everything how it was for many, many years; before that strange girl had arrived and changed everything. Of course, she was following Undertaker's orders, but, if it depended on him, the place would never had its messy appearance changed.<p>

Strangely, no matter how much room the coffins, the bottles, the papers, the spider-webs and the chairs (why had the mortician bought chairs, anyway? He never saw need in them before…) occupied, the mortuary seemed a little lonely too.

Well, it was kind of a waste to have just one person living in it.

Maybe Undertaker could take a protégé…. Those kids that had come to visit the girl when she got sick seemed funny enough; they would surely fill up the place.

If only Undertaker had not annoyed the blonde and scared the redhead….

At least more of the mortician's regular, living guests resumed to come and visit. Well, truth be told, they didn't spend much time - just came to ask questions or talk about business that Undertaker didn't want the girl to know about - and many of them were unpleasant men and women, but it was still something.

BRING-BRING

Talking about unpleasant men…

The man who entered was never liked here in the mortuary, but after the cross-dressing girl had arrived and told Undertaker about him, he was downright despised. His butler had been, and still was, hated.

"Marquis Chamberlin~!" Undertaker sang and, for anyone who actually knew him, it was obvious that the sweetness of his voice was masquerading poison. "What can I do for you on this fine day~?"

The platinum man scanned the mortuary in distaste. It was enraging how he came into the place as if he owned it and still had the audacity to outright disdain it. Well, at least, he was as cynical as Undertaker in masquerading it with a smile and a sweet voice.

"Good afternoon, Undertaker. It has been quite some time, no?" Ah, that man sure loved to do small talk. Did he think **that** would win Undertaker over?

"Indeed." Undertaker replied, motioning for the platinum man and his butler to sit on the new chairs. "And I do apologize for postponing a little-"

"Five months." The man cut in with a smile as bitter as a lemon and sat down; his butler standing behind his chair still as a gargoyle.

"-your visit. But I had been a little busy, you see~."

Very busy, running from mansion to mansion, visiting all the clients that would usually come to him, all to keep that strange girl's existence hidden. Only the platinum Marquise's house he refused to visit, and only the boy-Earl he allowed to come.

Now, thinking back, it is obvious that the mortician had planned for the girl to go to the boy a long time ago. That would surely be a problem to that platinum man's plans.

"Busy with our 'Bizarre Dolls' I trust?"

Even though Undertaker didn't show, it was easy to know that it pained him to hear that man referring to his sweet creations as theirs. They were Undertaker's and they would always be Undertaker's.

"Of course~." It was not a complete lie; in the solitude of his room, the mortician worked hard on perfecting his creations. "They will soon be ready for their debut gala~!"

A pleased, feral grin stretched on the Marquise's lips. "Wonderful! For I know just the place to present them to the world."

"Oh, really?"

"Don't worry; you will still have time to work on them." But Undertaker was not worried about the time; he was worried about the strange girl being there to presence his 'Bizarre Dolls' in action. He knew that the girl would never be able to understand their beauty. "There are still months before the Campania sets sail."

"The Campania~?" Undertaker echoed, tilting his head to the side. "But, don't you think that the Queen's watchdog may be aboard?"

"I am sure he will." The platinum man answered. "It'll be a perfect chance for me to see what he is capable of."

It angered Undertaker. Of course, the mortician knew that the platinum man just wanted to use his 'Bizarre Dolls' as a pawn of his chess game, but they were so much more than that! Here in the mortuary, Undertaker gives his sweat and blood to make sure they are perfect and that man still refers to them as simple sacrifices for his schemes…

No matter, he'd see how wrong he was. Not here, unfortunately, but in the Campania.

"Well, now that I know that you're still hell-bent on working in the 'Bizarre Dolls', I guess I can give you the good news. Boris."

Without a word, the butler left the mortuary for a few seconds and returned with a suitcase in hand. He laid it on one of the coffins on the floor and opened it.

"Money?" Undertaker asked, looking from the case's content to the Marquise.

"And there's much more from where that came from." The platinum man informed, raising himself from the chair. "It is all so you can quadruplicate the amount of 'Bizarre Dolls' you're making."

Undertaker grinned widely to the platinum man. "Quadruplicate? Maybe you're not only worried about seeing the watchdog's strength, my dear Marquise~. What are you going to check? The 'Bizarre Dolls' power? Something happened to renew your interest in **my** beautiful creations?"

Rage flashed in the platinum man's eyes, before they returned to their warm, amused and fake state.

"Not at all, Undertaker. If it had, I am sure you would know." The platinum man started to walk towards the door. His movements halted for a moment as he stared at the ground. "I am just not sure if you'd tell me about it."

"Me~? Withholding information from you~? That's just preposterous!" Undertaker spoke overly-dramatically. "To think that we have been friends for such a long time…"

The platinum man raised his gaze to the mortician and gave him a bitter-sweet smile. "Of course I am only kidding. Anyway, I must leave now. See you in three months."

With that, the platinum man and his butler left. Unlike the cross-dressing girl's, their departure did not have one negative effect; it was all better without them. Undertaker shared this opinion, relaxing his shoulders and dropping his weight on one of the chairs. There was a moment of calm.

It was the calm before the storm. Before Undertaker's eyes fell onto the same spot the platinum man's had been a moment before.

There on the ground laid one of the cross-dressing girl's favorite books, a child's book, a dreamer's book, a book that Undertaker would never read nor possess: 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'.

Unexpectedly, Undertaker grinned from ear to ear.

"You may even find her, my dear Cyril, but you won't be able to take her away from the watchdog. I couldn't keep her here, away from the dark, twisted world you two live in, but you won't be able to get her either."

By letting the boy-Earl meet the girl, he made him interested in getting her as a chess-piece. By letting the cross-dressing girl meet Madam Lewis and see her parents' grave, he made her want to go to the boy-Earl. By pretending that he didn't want her to go, he made it seem as if he had nothing to do with it.

Undertaker knew she would get involved in everything and that he would not be able to protect her from it. Not unless he gave up his 'Bizarre Dolls'.

He had to choose between his perfect 'Bizarre Dolls' and not allowing the cross-dressing girl - one of the few people he met that suffered far too much from pain and lost but didn't hold it against the world - to become a chess piece to the game of the great, dark nobles.

Well, at least he let her with the least twisted player.

* * *

><p><strong>Yes, this chapter is in a third person's POV, but I had one "special character" in mind when I was writing it. The first to PM me with the right answer gets a...<strong> **a****...**

**I don't know! An one-shot is good enough?**

**I honestly don't know why I'm doing that... Guess I'm in the mood to tease. XDXD**

**Anyway, you can just ignore what I just said if you want to, but, as always, please let me know what you think about the chapter. ;)**

**Kisses,**

**RedVoid**


	13. Author's note

**Hello everyone!**

**Thank you all for accompanying me during 'Living', I loved and cherished every review and fav/alert that you guys gave me. I mean, really, they always made my days a little brighter. XD**

**And that's why it's a huge pleasure to tell you that 'Living's sequel has finally begun. It's name is 'Pursuing' and the first chapter has just been posted. =D**

**I hope you stick with me during 'Pursuing' as well and enjoy it as much as you did 'Living'.**

**Lots of kisses,**

**RedVoid**


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